


A Bit Blue

by AhmedMootaz



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Bonding, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Just not too gory, Polar Bears - Freeform, Siberian Geography, Slightly Competent Henchmen, The violence is there, light shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-09-19 10:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AhmedMootaz/pseuds/AhmedMootaz
Summary: It's Christmas! For most, it's a time where you can relax, have fun, and spend time with your family. For Doctor Drakken, it's a time where he can try conquering the world without interference. Again. Things don't go quite as planned, however, and Shego has to confront a bed-ridden and injured Drakken after she returns from her Christmas vacation.In which Drakken uses a Swiss Army Knife to its fullest and finds Henchmen who are capable of intelligent speech.





	1. Cold Feet.

Doctor Drakken was no stranger to world domination plans. He'd make one every few days, execute one every few days, and then fail one every few days thanks to that stupid cheerleader called Kim Possible and her sidekick whose name he couldn't even remember. They'd come in, all high-and-mighty with a supposed moral high-ground and foil his magnificent schemes, even if he and Shego, _his_ sidekick, manage to put up a good fight.

That being said, he never gave up in spite of his many, many failures, as Shego often _adored_ to remind him. She was never the positive type, but she did her job competently enough, and Drakken had to admit, she was the only person other than his mother who'd actually stay with him for prolonged time periods and bear his rants, tantrums and other eccentricities, though he had a suspicion that was largely due to his generous paychecks.

Still, it was nice to have someone to talk to every once in a while. Even mad scientists need socializing, lest they go mad in the bad sense. Not that he'd admit it, of course, as she'd keep teasing him for _weeks_. Despite being her boss, Shego didn't treat him with as much respect as one would imagine she did.

For Dr.Drakken, there was simply no time for things such as vacations, and it was often Shego who forced him off his workbench to relax a bit whenever he'd start screaming gibberish at her for no good reason. If she was in a good mood, that is, otherwise she'd probably ditch him to relax herself, sending him into a downward spiral of guilt as he realizes how much she helps him with his job before inevitably begging her to return. That being said, one vacation which Shego never missed was Christmas. She had never wasted her time trying to convince the mad doctor that he should relax a bit that time of the year, and she'd always book the quickest flight to a tropical beach, as she preferred the nice ocean breeze in her hair to the snow chunks a good third of Drakken's lairs seem to come with.

-"See ya' next year, Doc. Try not to blow up the lair while I'm gone.", this Christmas was no exception to her, and at midnight exactly, she got her bags and started leaving Drakken. He tried objecting, but his protests were soon drowned by his sidekick's logical response that she deserved a small vacation for a week after several months of fighting that Kim Possible and her buffoonish sidekick.

-"...Fine. I'd have liked it if you could stay to see my magnificent plan unfold, this time, Shego, the world shall fall under my control with the Electro-Hydro-Heater!", he began boasting while the supervillainess rolled her eyes; it was another rant of his. "With it, I'll be able to evaporate the entirety of the Earth's water, and the only way to stop me would be to make me rule this world! Trust me, Shego, this time we'll win!", if she had a dime for every time she heard that, she'd have never needed to work again.

-"Yeah, fine, whatever, but I much prefer my vacation.", she replied with a bored glare, making his proud expression drop a little. "Oh, and please try not to get stuck in the north pole like last year. Going to the arctic to save you wasn't exactly on my list of stuff to do in Christmas. Like, it was fun and all, but I still prefer the beach.", she called back as she was about to exit their lair's door, catching him off-guard. He replied with a sheepish grin as he remembered the year when he and Kim Possible's sidekick got stuck in the north pole after a plan-gone-wrong, forcing Shego to quit her vacation to save him, only to discover he and the buffoon got along well. He tried to defend himself by saying that he couldn't hurt another fan of Snowman Hank on Christmas, but that only got him mocked by her. She stopped teasing him about it in March solely because she'd forgotten about it.

-"Will do. Goodbye, Shego!", he was fairly certain she only got the first part of his sentence before she slammed the door behind her to catch her plane to the Bahamas or something. Drakken hadn't asked her about where she was going and she didn't tell him, mostly because it would benefit neither of the supervillains. She probably didn't like spending the last few days on Ellesmere Island, on which Drakken had built a lair on some land that he bought. While Shego objected at first, saying that the purchase would only bite them in the back when they have to lower the henchmen's salaries a bit and, naturally, have them be less motivated to work, she had to admit that it was a rather smart place to build a lair; avoiding the local population (~200 people including military personnel) was easy enough with how spacious the island was, and the place was perfect for hiding after a big mission or something. But the weather left _much_ to be desired, especially during the cold December weather. That, and that she'd never give him the pleasure of knowing she actually thought one of his ideas was good for once.

Drakken continued his work on his Electro-Hydro-Heater, giggling like a schoolgirl to himself as he imagined the world finally endorsing its true leader. That was if he managed to tie this loose screw, which just wouldn't budge with his hands.

-"SHEGO! Hand me the-", he yelled back before remembering that his partner-in-crime was now probably halfway across the world. He sighed in defeat as he searched for a screwdriver himself while removing his purple goggles. He wasn't much of a social person, sure, but he'd been working for nearly four years with Shego now, and having the lair devoid of her snarky comments somehow made it feel forlorn. In spite of all their banter and fights, he had to admit he got used to her company. Tolerated it, even. At least, he did when she wasn't blasting him with her plasma hands whenever he annoyed her or when she wasn't tearing apart his ego with her snark, which wasn't very often. If nothing else, it made him remain sane while having someone to talk to. His Henchmen mostly kept to themselves, and he was half-certain they mocked him behind his back, but then again, Shego mocked him while staring at his face, so it didn't bother him much.

He backed away from his invention, admiring it from a distance as he rested his hands on his dark-blue labcoat's waist, a smug grin starting to form on his lips. This time, the world hadn't a chance. If only Shego saw this, she'd have...She'd have probably mocked him. But still, he appreciated her input even if he never took it into consideration. It was a strange kind of appreciation, one Shego didn't quite like. The circular machine emitted a mechanical humming noise as it started getting ready for the glorious scheme planned for it. There was a small metal pole protruding out of an orb in the middle, surrounded by a wall of solar panels. The solar panels would get the energy, channel it to the round part in the middle, which would generate a fierce energy wave, vaporizing any water it touches on the spot. This time, it had to work. He was sure of it. Shego was going to eat her sarcastic words when she sees this thing in action, and he couldn't wait to see her impressed face. Tomorrow-Or well, today, when the sun is up, the world shall embrace its true leader!

* * *

Well, the plan was a failure. As Shego expected and sarcastically pointed out several times. The Electro-Hydro-Heater itself wasn't the issue, but how much time it would've taken to vaporize the _oceans_ would've left plenty of time to destroy it.

If it even managed to break the atmosphere, that was. It just wasn't fair! How could he have fought against both Kim Possible _and_ the buffoon by himself? He had prepared an Electric Ray-Gun Of Doom to balance out Shego's absence, but even then, that darned cheerleader distracted him for enough time for her sidekick to press every button possible on the control panel of his great invention, including the self-destruct button. He knew Shego would mock him endlessly for not removing that button, but it was a necessity; what if there was some catastrophic failure that would make the evaporation ray directed at _him_ instead? And he'd even made it smaller-he made it _green_, for crying out loud!

He sighed helplessly as he saw some trees from his escape-pod's window while he flew over them, trying so desperately to maintain the stoic image of himself he painted in the back of his mind. Yet he'd been struggling to not seem like he was hurt after he had to escape from his Ellesmere Island lair, which was going to take weeks to get rebuilt after his invention blew it up, and he couldn't help but feel his ego was shattered. On Christmas night, no less. Kim Possible and the buffoon had, once again, foi-

-"Nghh!", a sound interrupted his thoughts as his voluminous escape pod shook violently. A sound that resembled an explosion far too much for his liking. He'd fallen on the ground, and just as he was getting up, the sound echoed again, and this time he was thrown like a ragdoll across the pod. From how hard his head stung when he hit the wall, he knew he'd have a bruise there for a few days. He tried holding onto anything in his pod before he felt something metallic in his hand: The small Electric Ray he'd created to fend off Kim Possible. His eyes widened as he searched for something bolted, but to no avail, as the booming explosion sounded one last time, and before he knew it, Drakken had found himself falling through a hole in his escape pod, which had started cracking into two pieces.

He screamed. If he wasn't falling to his own doom, he'd have felt ashamed at how high-pitched he was; not even the cheerleader reached that note. A hundred thoughts sprung up in his head-He thought about holding onto a tree, but Shego was the one athletic enough to do that, not him-Maybe his ray-gun could prove useful? No, maybe praying? Drakken wasn't much of a spiritual person, but perhaps this nigh-

Before he knew it, he hit the ground. The first thing he thought of was that heaven was awfully cold before he opened his eyes a bit and discovered that he'd fallen in the middle of a heaping pile of snow. Cold, humiliated and shocked, but alive.

The cold became painfully obvious when he started pulling himself out; he was still wearing his usual dark-blue labcoat, and he was in no shape or form prepared for the weather of who-knows-where. There was a large explosion somewhere in the distance, and he immediately realized his escape pod's landing was much harsher. Orienting himself, he saw nothing but snow around him. He was headed to one of his least-known lairs in the north, where he'd have sulked, whined, and probably cried his evil little heart out after yet another failure. Even Shego was only there once, and she'd stumbled on it by accident while avoiding authorities.

He hugged himself for a moment, trying to generate some heat, before smiling as he discovered that he still had his ray in his hand. _At least it wasn't that bad..._, he thought. His smile widened further as he discovered his phone was in his pocket, and hurriedly started dialing the one person he knew could save him: Shego. His phone was satellite-connected; he'd built a personal satellite and launched it back in the old days, way before he'd even known Shego. It was expensive, sure, but he knew it would all be worth it when Shego comes and saves him from freezing his bum off in whatever this place was. He was just about to press the dial button before it hit him.

Oh. Right. Shego.

She'd barely spent a day of her vacation, and if she came to save him now, she'd probably never have time to continue it, if the year before was any indicator. He knew that, technically, as her boss, he had the ability to call her in a situation where he was practically freezing, but he decided that he much preferred hearing her thank him about another pre-paid vacation -something he was considering to make into a yearly tradition to thank her for her hard work- than he preferred hearing her complain -rightfully, objected an honest voice in his head, which he tried ignoring- about having to save her boss from a tundra and then mock him for failing his plan. Again. He'd managed to survive for a few hours with the buffoon last year in the north pole, surely, _surely_ he was competent-or, well, maybe lucky enough to survive for a few hours on his own while his henchmen came to save him. _They_ didn't demand extra payments for saving you on Christmas, anyways.

His smile started dying out when the cold really started to strike him. Doodles, just how cold was this place? He punched his nearest lair's number and waited as he tried heating himself up, trying to run in his place. If anyone saw him, they'd probably think he was tippy-toeing in a strange upstanding fetal position.

-"Hello? Bob? Is that you?", the mad doctor started when someone picked up. He didn't know exactly _which_ lair he'd chosen; he gave every one of his lairs the same number and made a system which would connect him to whichever lair was the closest to him. He'd been calling it the 'Universal Drakken-Line Of World Control' for a few years before Shego came in and explained the concept of a hotline to him. Stupid teen-slang. He'd show them all when he ruled the world!

-"Uh, no, this is John. Who's this? Jake, did you forget the keys again?", Drakken gritted his teeth and tried as hard as possible to sound kind to the insolent idiot who'd forgotten the voice of the future world-ruler.

-"No, John, it is I, Dr. Drakken, future ruler of the world, conqueror of terrors, master of villains-", he had to interrupt himself as he realized he was going into a rant- in the middle of a bloody tundra. "I, um, I just need some help, okay? My latest plan failed and the oceans haven't evaporated yet.", he barely managed to swallow his pride and confess, as if he was admitting to some horrible crime. When there was no response, he continued, "I'm stuck somewhere in...in...I don't know, there's a lot of ice-actually, which lair am I talking to?", he tried explaining before he realized he actually had no idea where he was.

-"Um, the Kamchatka Lair, sir.", just as those words were uttered, Drakken felt his hand slacken, threatening to let go of the phone. A massive lump formed in his throat, and he only barely pushed it down. _Kamchatka?_ He'd built that lair primarily for whenever things went awry for him in the east and he needed to hide. It was neat in its own way, but Shego never appreciated it, and he had to agree with her; the place wasn't well-protected, for one, and two, it had nothing. He hadn't bothered to get good furniture, and it was a miracle he was able to finance an Internet connection there, otherwise Shego might've tried shooting plasma around him to deal with her boredom whenever they went there, which wasn't very often.

-"Kamchatka. As in, the Russian peninsula.", he repeated, his teeth starting to chatter as he realized what kind of mess he was caught in. A nod from the other side made him take a gulp, shivering before continuing, "Well, just get me out of wherever I am, okay?", his voice was as bossy as it could be, trying to show off his evil aura, but in truth, he was scared out of his wits. If that was the nearest lair, then it meant exactly one thing for him:

He was stuck in Siberia.

-"Sure thing, boss.", at least the henchmen didn't give lippy comments about him failing to take over the world. That's something to be happy about. Maybe he'd be able to brag to Shego about how he survived a day in Siberia on his own, even. "U-Uh...Well, um...just one thing, boss.", John replied with the standard henchman tone, though the hesitation only made Drakken's heart start beating faster with panic, "Where exactly are you?"

-"I..._How the heck am I supposed to know?!_ It's a bloody tundra, and the only thing I'm seeing around me are a few tall trees...Some frozen plants on the floor and a whole lot of ice. Come get me already!", he snapped. If this was some sick joke, then he wasn't up for it. "Just track my phone signal or whatever!", he instructed, faintly hoping his anger will manage to stave off the cold for a while.

-"I-I'm...I'm afraid that's impossible, boss. You made your phone undetectable without special equipment, and we don't have it here. Without your coordinates, we'll be searching all week for you; the entirety of Siberia corresponds to your description.", Drakken wanted someone to wake him up. To tell him that this was all a bad dream, or that this henchman was playing a cruel trick on him to get Evil Points, but from the dead-serious tone in his voice, he started to panic.

His brain started chanting at him, _ThinkThinkThink_. He was still too stubborn to call Shego and prove to both her and himself that he can't take care of himself without her. The idea of calling Kim Possible fluttered in his mind before it was hastily squashed. Never would he stoop _that_ low. Granted, it was _Siberia_, but as a self-proclaimed mad genius, he should've been able to, _theoretically_, survive on his own. Then it dawned on him. Any equipment he could use to pin-point his coordinates were in his escape pod. Drakken turned, saw a column of smoke rising from somewhere in the arctic, and had his mind decided.

-"Listen, I'm gonna try to send you my coordinates in a timely manner. Set everyone in the lair to maximum attention.", he ordered, sending a glare at the phone, trying to vent some anger on it. "If my coordinates aren't with you after twelve hours, call Shego. She has a tracking device pinned to my phone.", he ordered as calmly as possible, still trying to heat himself. He was shivering uncontrollably at this point.

-"...Tweleve hours? Boss, this is Siberia, are you sure you can-"

-"_ENOUGH!_ There will be no doubts about my survival skills! I survived High-School, for Pete's sake!", he cried out, but his voice seemed like it was going to fail him. He'd dock this guy's payments for how much he scared him when he gets back home. _If I ever do..._

He remained silent for a moment before ending the call and looking around him. John had been right; everything looked the same. With the exception of the few trees he'd spotted while falling, it was nothing but a glacial desert. He would've taken photos and geeked about how entrancing it looked if it wasn't making him freeze to death. He looked at the ground and started scavenging for any leftover plants from the summer, the cold ice burning his hands even with the gloves on. He continued like this for a moment before redirecting his attention to some moss which was conveniently growing on some of trees he noticed, grabbing as much of it as possible before pointing at them with his Electric Ray after setting it to 'Heating'. The moss was, of course, frozen, and so setting it on fire was fairly power-consuming, but he had built the thing, he was certain the battery could last for _months_ before _starting_ to die out. He picked up a small branch to light on fire, and started his journey to trek through the tundra, keeping his makeshift torch close to him to both remain warm and so that the wind does not extinguish it.

-"How bad could this be?", he mumbled to himself, part encouragingly, part sarcastically. The torch had to be basically touching him for him to feel its heat, but it was better than freezing any day. He started moving to the smoke tower, shielding his oh-so-precious flame with his Electric Ray. Perhaps he could market it as a survival tool if this works.

The walk was fairly boring. With the exception of how cold it was getting. Drakken was starting to feel the burn go up from his hands to his wrists, and the torch he created wasn't doing all that great. The winds were fierce, and he realized that the reason everything seemed dark to him was because the moon was up. At 4 in the evening, according to his phone which he had set on the Ellesmere Island timezone. At least he now knew that he was somewhere up north. That was a start, at least. This entire thing would be much better if, like in the fairytales his mother loved to tell him, an Aurora Borealis appeared, giving him hope to push forward.

That, of course, didn't happen. The only reason he wasn't a frozen hunk of oddly blue meat was because he'd stumbled upon a cluster of dead twigs which he managed set on fire after a painfully long moment of firing at them. He stood near the fire he'd just created, warming his body up before chucking his old torch in; it was too small to help him anyways. The weather was worsening by the second, it seemed.

Of all the seasons and all the months, he falls into Siberia in the middle of the winter in late December. Typical. Shego would've probably noted that by now and made a joke about it. How come he'd never be able to get a day off, even on Christmas? It was just unfair! He grumbled to himself as he kicked some snow with his boots, venting his anger when he couldn't transform it into a massive rant. He stepped down to try and protect the small fire he'd started when another gust of violent wind sent shivers up his spine. The fire, while helping, was doing nearly as much as he hoped, and part of him secretly knew that if he didn't go now, then it'd just get colder until he freezes in the middle of the night. So he picked up another, sturdier looking branch, setting it on fire before reluctantly moving again, noticing that his legs were stiff.

_Not good_, if Shego was around, she'd have probably managed to keep them both warm, he thought. She'd been stuck with him in a snowy wilderness more than once after a failed plan, and while he was often subjected to various ego-shattering insults, some plasma balls if she was feeling particularly irked, he never complained. Maybe he'd try fighting or arguing with her, but he'd always be secretly thankful for the fact that she used her hands as a portable, neverending campfire. Now, he'd do anything for some heat, even if he had to eat a plasma ball for it.

He shook his head in dismay, berating himself for thinking about being warm when that obviously would've discouraged him further from continuing on. The smoke line was slowly, but surely, getting thinner, and if it was gone, then so were his chances at making it out of here without cutting Shego's vacation. The wind blew fierce, and he had to struggle so his face wouldn't grimace and freeze. He'd have found it funny how his body felt like it was burning in the middle of a snowstorm if that burn wasn't actually _painful_. His muscles were tensing up, and he thought about keeping his flame closer to his mouth, lest his saliva freeze up or something. He kept fighting the wind as he marched on the plain fields, feeling like there was nothing that distinguished them, save for a few lone plants, which must've frozen back in October.

His footsteps got heavier as the wind blew stronger. Every footstep was lifting a hunk of snow with it, and while he'd made sure his labcoat was environment-resistant, he was sure that his little torch was what kept him alive. He'd have to remember to add some heaters to his coat in the future.

The concept of being so..._alone_ was entirely unknown to him-and sure, he'd spent a few days alone at his lair without Shego or his mother's calls, but there was something else about this place that just sent shivers up his spine. Other than that it was probably minus twenty degrees Celsius.

Just... the _solitude_. Call him a geek all you want- actually, please don't, he was already licking his ego-wounds from Shego constantly doing so- but he found company in his lairs with his machines. His purple goggles hanging on his face, the whirring of the machines somehow made a rythme to him. The gears danced in his eyes. The boiling chemicals entranced him and had a beat. Maybe that's why people ostracized him in college; they must've found him too geeky and annoying. But it's not like he didn't try socializing! He was ridiculed from the very moment his eccentricities starting showing, without giving him a chance to even explain himself. And-and it's not as if the others were perfectly normal! You couldn't _be_ normal when you were in the Middleton Institute for Science and Technology, you always had a _gimmick_ alongside being a genius. James Possible had _several_ and nobody mocked him ruthlessly! And, sure, Drakken might've been easy to tease, but-

-"Ugh!", he yelled, taking satisfaction from how much his voice echoed. He then immediately felt the panicked sensation of fear running through his body, somehow managing to further turn him into a shivering mess; what if there was a secret Russian military base somewhere?! He'd be murdered before he could even register that he was being aimed at with a sniper-rifle or something. There was a reason he preferred-no, _needed_ Shego with him on infiltration missions that involved anything important in Russia. Probably the reason she's on the 'Most Wanted' list there, too.

_FOCUS, Drakken!_, he could hear Shego giving him another talk about staying on topic. Why he heard her so often was beyond him, but it sure didn't make him miss being in a nice, comfortable, warm lair any less. Thinking about various things definitely made him _somewhat_ forget about how much the cold stung his skin, but he wasn't about to wait until it went further than his arms and knees. The cold kept tugging at various parts of his body, and whatever protection his coat offered at first was rapidly being blown away with the wind, not to mention how violently his torch was threatening to go out.

He grimaced again. He was now trudging through the glacial desert he was in ever so slowly, his breaths freezing on spot. He was walking low, moving slowly as to not disturb the Russian military base he was certain was somewhere nearby, until he he tried looking at the smoke cloud again. It was so dark he barely saw it. And this was six in the evening. Part of him knew he wouldn't make it if it went past eight. He tried ignoring that part so, so much.

Why couldn't _he_ get a break on Christmas? Yeah, sure, he could've taken a vacation, but he was going to so after his plan failed! It was just his luck that his escape pod would turn out to be faulty even after he personally inspected every pod of his with Shego. Why couldn't that Kim Possible leave him be? Did the entire Possible family inherit the trait of not allowing their foes moments of peace?

His mind drifted again to his college days. He'd entered college just a bit younger than everyone else, James Possible was about to graduate, and dropped out of it younger than everyone else, too. He was doing so well, and he had such a bright future, but he was mocked on the s_pot_. Two weeks after he got in. And he was so certain this wouldn't be a repeat of High-School. At least this time the bullies didn't punch him so hard they'd break his arm and send him crying to his mother, where she'd comfort him the best way she could before unleashing her rage on whoever hurt him, something that only improved the situation 16.4% of the time, as he calculated it. Yet their mockery hurt him so much more in college, even when no one touched him physically. He knew he was vulnerable, Shego's insults were as much proof as he needed, even when he denied all her accusations, but she was a _villainess_! What excuse did _they_ have?

He shook his head violently, as if he was shooing a wasp. He grumbled something to himself as his teeth chattered, his nose going fully stiff. His face wasn't burning anymore. It was _in pain_. What good did it do to remember all of this _now_? Then again, Drakken's brain was a messy space with barely any organization, he'd once remembered his favorite type of doughnuts when he was fighting Kim Possible, and don't get him started on that one time he ran to Shego, so excited he actually caught her attention, to ask her what her favorite type of jam was. Back then she'd been caught off guard so much she actually remained speechless for a moment, something unheard of for Shego.

Now, everything around him was speechless. With the exception of a non-Mother-Lipsky-approved "Oh, doodles" he muttered under his breath once he noticed a large, tall, intimidating hill in front of him. He looked around, faintly hoping that there was another way around it when he felt another wave of shivers shoot up through his body like someone just dumped a bucket of ice on his back. Frankly, he'd have much preferred a bucket of ice compared to whatever metric measurement was being dumped on him right now. Apparently, his body wasn't holding up too well, and whatever protection he thought his modified labcoat would provide was now gone.

-"It's okay, Drakken. The fastest road between two points is a straight line, after all.", he mumbled to himself, not sure if he was comforting himself or pushing his tired body to go up the hill. Every step he took sank into the ice like some sort of quicksand -he quickly scanned his mind in fear of forgetting about icy quicksand, which was, luckily, nothing but a frightening thought- and his torch threatened to go out at any minute now with how much he was tripping. He hanged his Electric Ray on his belt, nearly squeaking in terror when he realized the hand that wasn't holding the torch was nearly numb.

_CalmdownCalmDownCALMDOWN_, a few deep breaths would probably freeze up his esophagus, and so he did his best to calm down, switched the hand that was holding the torch -boy, the warmth was such a _good_ feeling- and worked his way up. He used his free hand to lift him up whenever he tripped up or to help him hold onto the strangely steep hill. This would all be worth it when he tells his friends that he survived an entire day in Siberia with his standard outfit!

He kept digging his gloves, which were basically useless in this scenario, into various clumps of ice that he used to hoist himself to the top of the mountain. He thought a little about that sentence he tried to encourage himself with.

Who'd he tell?

His mother? He scoffed at the idea and rolled his eyes before it even finished. Like, she'd be proud of him and all, but then she'd ask why he was there, and ever since he taught her how to use the Internet (he _still_ needed to punch himself for that one; he now spends a good quarter of his weekend using a special filter he built to stop any news about him from reaching her) he couldn't make up any charity race names anymore, and he was certain none of them were in Siberia this time of the year. His henchmen? Like they'd even _care_. None of the villains in the Villain Community liked him enough to _listen_ to him, much less praise his survival skills. Kim Possible and her buffoon? _Fat chance._

Shego? Would she even care? She's probably survived a _month_ in Siberia without him knowing, and she'd just mock another failure of his to take over the world.

He fought against the feeling that this was just going to be a useless stunt that gets him several injuries like he fought against that blasted hill until he finally reached the top. Right on time, too, because his other hand was yelling at him to give it the torch so it can start feeling again. He happily obliged, walking over the bare, deserted mountain in a triumphant glare, as if he conquered the entire world. One step at a time; first the Hill Of Pain and Cold, then, the worl-

Hey what was that? Something brown and leathery on the ground grabbed his attention. Mostly the leathery part, though; what he wouldn't do the cover up his head. He kept drawing closer, before he noticed that brown thing also had a lot of red sticking out. He had a vague idea of what he was going to see and he felt his mouth getting dry. _Not good_. He got one step closer and immediately knew, that was a dead reindeer. So mutilated it barely looked like one. Drakken gagged. For a self-proclaimed Evil Overlord, he had an awful case of-what did you call it? Hameo-haemio- Blood phobia! That, coupled with his irrational fear of dead things, never made for a pretty sight whenever he had to do not-so-nice stuff. Of course, he _had_ to do them! What kind of scientist didn't dissect things? Though, vomiting five times while dissecting a lizard and spending an hour afterwards hyperventilating didn't scream 'intimidating' to him, but he could push himself when need be. That was the point. Oddly enough, he never felt bad for trying to destroy Kim Possible, but maybe he only feared the 'grim and gritty' part.

Before he could've screamed at his body for even thinking about it, he suddenly kneeled, inspecting the once lively herbivore. The only thing making him not throw up was the fear of his vomit actually freezing up in his throat. For something that looked like it was hammered with a fork, the fur looked in pretty good condition. Soft, warm, fluffy-Everything his head wasn't right now. The rational part of him told him that this had a very high chance of being ineffective and gross and smelly and blood-stained, but that part screeched to a bloody halt when his brain suddenly remembered this fun little thing called "Frostbite Autoamputation.". Most of the time, he loved how much information his brain stored. Not so much now.

He swallowed hard. His free hand instinctively pinched his ears to make sure their nerves were still functional. Barely. They were so stiff he feared trying to twist them would break them. His gaze drifted back to the very dead reindeer in front of him, and after a moment of internal thinking, he decided that using his Electric Ray, designed to hurt and _burn_, for cutting the fur wasn't the smartest move he could make. He slipped his empty hand into one of his pockets, searching for anything, and he fought against a yelp as he realized that his hand was stiffening again. As frozen as his hand may have been, it bumped into something small, which he dug out, revealing a bright pink shade that made him cringe: It was a Swiss Army Knife his mother had gifted him. He always kept it on his person in case he needed to open a particularly sturdy envelope without humiliating his ego and asking Shego for help.

He had to turn his head away from the dead animal so he wouldn't barf from the sight. He grabbed the loosest piece of fur he could find, barely hanging onto the body with a thread of leather. His knife wasn't the quickest, but was pretty effective, even if it took him a while to cut the thread of leather with one hand as the other clasped the torch with all its might. He shivered when he tried covering his head with it, almost gagging. It didn't stop the freezing, but at least his head didn't feel like it was being pierced with needles in the wind anymore. _I swear, if this thing contaminates me with something..._

No, none of that now. Only happy thoughts. He couldn't risk having a panic attack thinking about how many blood stains covered this thing. He got up from the reindeer carcass, shivering again as the wind hit his body's full length, trying to move his feet to the other side of the hill's summit. They were stiff, freezing, and he was certain his boots gave him a grand total of zero protection, but he forgot about all of that when he saw it. His escape pod, lying on the ground on the other side of a frozen river that passed right in front of the hill's bottom. The engines were burning alright, but he could make do with them. He _was_ Dr. Drakken, and he'd just survived a day in Siberia!

Then he heard a growl.

He patted his stomach, part embarrassed, part sympathetic. He forgot about breakfast today, too absorbed in his evil plan to vaporize the oceans, and he hadn't had lunch all day. He knew how important it was to eat in cold climates, and it only made him want to reach the other side as quickly as-

The growl echoed again. This time sounding closer. The mad blue scientist pushed down a massive lump that blocked his throat. He glanced backwards and every single rational thought he had abandoned him. Oh, it was a stomach alright. Just not his.

He spun his body around fast. So fast, he thought he might break his spine. In front of him was nothing other than an _ursus maritimus_. He scolded his brain for trying to use fancy words when a polar bear was a few meters away from him. What, was he going to tell the bear its scientific name and then let it _applause_?

His eyes widened, his pupils dilated, and he had to muster every bit of courage he gained from working with Shego to not dye his pants brown. The polar bear walked slowly. But it looked so fast for Drakken. So, so fast. His brain started racing against time, trying to reboot itself into its fight or flight mode, but much to his horror, Drakken realized it might not even _exist_; Shego did all the fighting and protecting for him, and all his fighting experiences were with that buffoon, his naked mole rat...Maybe the cheerleader? He wouldn't consider getting his teeth kicked in to be fighting experience, but it _was_ an experience. A painful one. None of these three had prepared him to fight the tundra's apex predator, however, he realized as the polar bear moved ever so closer to the self-proclaimed genius.

Suddenly, his brain kicked into action, and he was half-expecting to discover that his subconsciousness has advanced martial-arts lying there somewhere, but instead, he found himself drawing his Swiss Army Knife, pointing to the bear with the biggest blade in it.

-"N-Now, you stay back! I-I-I'm very...very...dangerous when I'm cornered!", he threatened, trying to take a step forward, faintly hoping to scare the hungry-looking mammal away. Maybe it'll think he's a threat if he demonstrates his lack of fear. But much to his dismay, Drakken felt more or less like a can of canned meat offering a human a can-opener. He could've sworn the bear had licked its lips, but it was dark. Oh so very dark. He could barely see the blasted creature in the first place, and it made him ever the more frightened. The predator kept advancing, and the doctor kept backing away. His breathing quickened, his heartbeats got faster, and it finally dawned on him that Kim Possible _did_ give him the 'flight' experience, and it appeared his body was preparing to do exactly that.

-"If...If you don't get back, I'll be forced t-to use my Electric Ray on you, polar fiend!", he tried yelling, but his throat itched from just being opened in this weather. At least last year he and the buffoon hid in their trashcan-turned-escape-pod, and the polar bear didn't look nearly as threatening last time, not to men- actually, what was it with him and being hunted by polar bears on Christmas?!

The bear didn't turn back. In fact, it sniffed the reindeer, looked back at the mad doctor, and suddenly it looked very, _very_ mad. Drakken's eyes shifted between the carcass and the bear before he had to resist slapping himself with a force only matched by Shego's: Of course, the reindeer was the bear's dinner. This was like finding a bear cub and then getting surprised there was a mother somewhere. It must've felt offended that Drakken was basically wearing its dinner -and frankly, if someone wore _his_ cupcakes, he'd be mad, too- but there was something else in its eyes. Something that somehow glimmered through the darkening skies: Hunger. That reindeer wasn't enough. It wanted something else, and it was with great fear that the doctor realized he was the bear equivalent to a big, blue chunk of meat that had no ability to fight back.

-"L-Listen! You're...You're a vulnerable species! I...I don't want to...uh...hurt you? Please?", his threats sounded less like threats and more like begging the bear to go away. The bear, of course, didn't go away, and with a shaky finger, the mad scientist fired the ray against it, but instead of growling, howling, or fleeing, the bear just stood there. Tanking it as it let out what could only be described as an annoyed growl. Then it hit him. He had the Electric Ray set to 'Heating'. In this weather, it would take five minutes to hurt the bear, but it _did_, however, make it agitated enough to let out a loud roar that indicated it was coming after him.

Doctor Drakken wasn't the bravest man you'd know. As much as he hated to admit it, there were many situations he'd have preferred to face differently without having to rely on Shego and further lower her respect for him. This situation was not one of them. As soon as the polar bear took the first jump towards him, he turned tail and tried running down the hill, throwing his weak torch towards his attacker and hoping the fire would startle it, but much to his dismay, he'd forgotten to cover it when he was panicking, and he found himself throwing nothing more than a burnt stick at the hungry animal.

The cold had gotten prominent again, and every limb of his was hurting like it was kicked by the cheerleader, and that meant something. The grimace his face broke into tore apart his frozen lips, and he would've screamed if he actually payed attention to that. The run down the hill reminded him of one time he tried outrunning Shego to the bottom of a mountain on which one of his many Mountain Lairs were built. It didn't end well, with the doctor slipping and rolling down the rocky, spiky, poison ivy-filled mountain.

This time, he tried landing a straight foot, but the moment he landed on a steep part, he tumbled down like a snowball. He sprained _something_ on the way down, or at least, the pain he felt _somewhere_ told him so. Everything hurt, and just as he thought it couldn't get better, he hit his head on a rock that was waiting for him on the bottom of the hill. His head started pumping again, and he realized the bruise he got from hitting his head in his escape pod hadn't gotten better. He had no time for self-pity, though, as he picked himself up immediately and tried running across the frozen river to get to his crashed escape pod. He felt his hand getting a grip on the Electric Ray's settings and he turned it to 'Electrocute', but even then, it would take too much time to charge a shot, and the bear was right on his tail.

His managed a queasy look backwards, and he saw the white-furred mammal get down the hill almost nonchalantly. He hung his Electric Ray on his labcoat's belt again and pulled out the knife, trying to be intimidating for all his worth. It didn't work. The bear roared again and charged. A million thoughts sprung up in his mind, but one took the lead and started directing him: What would Shego do? She's been in a million situations like this, and she always got out of them alive. Drakken was with her for almost all these million situations, surely he'd learnt something, right?

The bear was drawing in closer, and the first idea that came to his mind was that she'd light up her plasma hands and fire with all her might. _Okay, step one has failed. That's a new record_. He shooed away the sarcastic thought before trying to think of a step two. _She'd probably do a knife spin to demonstrate she was capable with the thing._ His eyes twisted as he tried to turn them into a menacing frown, but the ice almost had his entire face frozen. He tried one of Shego's attack poses, one leg forward, the other backward, and lifted the hand holding the knife and tried to to one of those nifty 180-degree spins he'd see on cooking shows.

Thing is, she was _Shego_. He was Drakken. He felt his grip slackening as he spun the weapon in his hand, barely grabbing it again with how slow his movement was. The display apparently got the bear confused, and the mad doctor was going to break into a smug, proud expression before he pointed the knife at the animal again and noticed he'd majorly cut his gloved hand in various parts, and that the only reason he hadn't felt it was because his hand was freezing without the torch. He fought hard against the rising feeling in his throat, which, he realized, was probably more than just a feeling at this point. The bear didn't care for that show after its end, and Drakken kept taking small steps backwards, praying as hard he could to not slip and fall.

_C'mon, where's step three?!_, he scanned his brain, searching for the corner that hid the 'Shego's Moves' file. _She'd probably do a backflip and then go for a sucker punch._ The polar bear was maybe four meters away. It was probably growling, but the only thing the blue doctor heard was his heartbeats' pounding as he readied himself to attempt a backflip. He took a breath, readied his limbs, and threw himself backwards only to slip on the ice and fall down. He had a nagging feeling that he would've slipped even if he was standing on concrete.

His head throbbed with pain as he hit it while falling, and he landed in an awkward position with his left leg in the air. That's probably what made it so easy for the bear to bite into it with all its force. Dr.Drakken howled in pain, his eyes getting watery from the pure, unadulterated pain as he felt the jagged canines dig into his leg. Every muscle in his caught leg screamed as the bear started dragging him, and before he knew it, Drakken was hanging onto the bear's face, trying with all his strength to make him let go before he breaks the bones or cuts an important vein or artery.

It must've been his adrenaline kicking into gear, because he in no shape or form even _thought_ he would get closer to the white-furred creature, stabbing it in its shoulder. It barely flinched. If it wasn't for the slight red hues on the edge of his knife, Drakken would've wondered if he even drew blood. Every rational thought about following steps or whatever escaped his mind as he shoved three fingers into the bear's left eye, actually making it wince in pain. His trapped leg yelled again, and before he knew it, Drakken had shoved his knife into the bear's snout and twisted it with the strength of a man trying to survive, causing the animal to release his leg in what was probably shock or pain. Maybe both, if his information about how sensitive bear snouts were was correct. The blue doctor rolled away from the bear, tried lifting himself up before he realized he was limping with his left leg.

_HECK!_, he internally swore in his mind, trying to assess the damage. The bones weren't damaged or crushed, at least, but his labcoat's leggings had a shiny new coat of red on them, and the pain, mixed with the freezing wind, only made him want to scream. His hands had fully stiffened, taking a full second to open or close, and he couldn't feel anything with them other than the numbing pain of the ice. He heard the bear growl behind him, and he jerked his head back to see an extremely angry predator preparing to run after its dinner. He'd been in situations like this before, he remembered, and there _was_ an action he did that always saved his hide. It probably wouldn't have worked now, but it was worth it to relieve the stress that's been building up inside him. At least, that's what he told himself as a screech came from his throat:

-"Shego! Help me! I need you!", his voice came out hoarse and weak because of the weather, and his cries echoed throughout the frozen river as the bear hurried after him. "SHEEEGOOOOOO!", he wailed that last cry, his eyes stinging with unshed, freezing tears as the situation began to overwhelm him.

He knew it wouldn't get him anywhere, and yet it was the only thing that he could think of. He tried running across the ice, ignoring the pain in his left leg. He couldn't think of the cold. He simply couldn't; his mind had other things to focus on, but he knew he was freezing up. He ran awkwardly, trying his best to reach the other side until he slipped again, hitting his chin on the hard, cold ice that covered the river's surface. If this was when he was trying to imitate Shego's skating, it would've been humiliating. Right now, it made him want to cry more. Why couldn't he do _anything_ right?!

He glanced back at the bear, which was now standing on its hind limbs, towering over the frail blue man. He'd have screamed if he hadn't noticed it was standing two to three meters away from him. Confused at first, he shortly regained his terrified thoughts as the bear crashed his front paws on the ice. Sure, a normal man like Drakken falling on the ice would only break his bones, but a 450 kilogramme polar bear hitting the the ice sheet? It would shatter it. That was what Drakken realized as the bear's weight broke the ice he was laying on into a circle. A circle which the bear tried crashing again, but due to its weight, it lifted it in a 90-degree angle, giving Drakken one good look at the water beneath the ice before he started falling.

He screamed. It was more of a squeak, with how small and high-pitched it was. He managed a small gasp with that squeak before he collided with the water, slowly sinking below the surface.

He panicked. This was even worse than when he and Shego fell into freezing water after his whole Ice Fortress fiasco. At least then he had Shego with him to save him and keep him from freezing to death. Now? Now he felt every single piece of him in pain. The cold water burned, and his lungs were soon met with the fact that they had to make-do with the puny amount of oxygen he managed to grab before his fall. The surfaced looked way too far, and for a moment, every single one of his limbs gave up. Nothing could be worth all this pain.

The Electric Ray had apparently given him a grand total of zero buoyancy, and he let go of a few oxygen bubbles as he kept going down. His brain shut down. Every single part of him screeched and begged for the hurting to stop. He just wanted this to be over.

The surface was just a dark-blue dot away from his reach. It wasn't too far, but his body couldn't -and wouldn't- budge. He wanted to get out, but he was tired. So very tired. If he'd just close his eyes, it'd all be-_noNoNONONO_

His thoughts went a mile a minute. He tried thinking of anything positive to help him push forward. In a split-second his thoughts went to his Mother. What would happen to her if she knew her only son was found frozen in Siberia, of all places? How devastated would she _be_? What would she even _do_? Could she even continue on with her life? Drakken didn't visit his mother very often, and while their relationship could seem one-sided to the random onlooker, he did very much love her. The thought of a sobbing, crying Mrs.Lipsky swam through his mind, and his stomach tied itself into a knot just thinking about it.

The second thought was Shego. She'd...probably find a new employer, but she'd still be touched, right?...Then again, it's not as if Shego's the emotional one; the quick bouts of emotions that weren't anger and sarcasm she'd show were something like a miracle to Drakken, but they've worked together for _years_ now! Surely she'd at least miss his generous paychecks...he hoped.

All these thoughts passed his mind in a split second, and the next thing he knew was that he was trying his best to swim up. He wasn't elegant or efficient, but he _was_ violent. It was only when he noticed something holding his left hand in place that he stopped, afraid of wasting precious oxygen. He couldn't see _what_ it was, even; the water was so dark, but it was making him panic badly, and so in a bout of instinct-based fear, he pulled out his Electric Ray and fired at whatever that thing was. His brain didn't even have time to register that the ray would short-circuit and probably blow up in his hand, and he closed his eyes, fearing the worst. But a moment later, he felt the thing pressing down on his hand get lifted, and he heard some sort of explosion, alongside the heavenly sound his ray firing a shot. He opened his eyes in a slit and when he saw that he still had both arms, he tried swimming to the surface.

His chest burned. Well, not exactly _burned_, it was like something pressing on his chest. A strange, suffocating feeling mixed with pain, itchiness and confusion. His neck hurt, and he was certain his head would get dazy in minute. He wasn't much of swimmer, but after she'd realized he couldn't float to save his life, Shego had taught him the basics. He didn't remember all of them, but his subconsciousness seemed to, because he automatically put his two hands above him in an aerodynamic triangle shape, though he had a feeling he looked less impressive than the image he had in his mind to motivate him. He resisted the urge to scream from the pain of the icy cold water and started doing a front crawl. It was more of a paddle, honestly speaking, but it _did_ push him up, even if his left hand felt odd.

He tried ignoring it like he tried ignoring the pain caused from the water, failing to not panic as he discovered his fingers were all but movable. _C'mon. Just a few more strokes. Please..._ The surface was approaching, but his breath was reaching his limit. The light daze his head felt was now a sharp pain, and things were slowly fading away. The mad doctor forgot all about the nice moves he was taught and started moving his hands frantically.

And then it happened. The miracle; he broke through the surface of the water. He forgot about his common sense and gasped the biggest breath he could, immediately regretting it once he felt the cold air shredding his throat like a dozen of daggers. The air hit his skin and a part of him begged to be submerged again. He floated there, trying to take in his surroundings as his entire body stiffened. His primary directive was to get solid footing, and so he tried lifting himself onto the icy river once more, trying as hard as possible to hoist himself upward, but his body was exhausted, and he couldn't lift a quarter of his body.

He fought against rising feeling of panic and tried lifting his right leg onto the ice. Drakken was by no means a flexible man, but he did managed to get his leg up, using it to try and roll himself out of the water, being every bit thankful as he could for the fact that the ice circle the bear broke landed in an unorthodox manner, leaving him a small pocket to climb out of. The winds were fierce still, and he felt his breathing quicken as the air's cold transformed into pain. He'd barely stood on his boots when his eyes focused on a white dot approaching him. A white dot with a painfully pink object protruding out of its noise.

From the various other holes on the icy river, it probably thought the blue man was gleefully swimming under the ice like a seal. He tried tucking his wet hair away from his eyes to see his hunter better, but it stayed, already frozen. He knew that the first course of action he should take to not freeze like a popsicle was to remove his clothes, but a man only had so many hands! He was going to remove his short-lived makeshift leather hoodie with his right hand and fire his ray with his left before he realized something. He couldn't _move_ his left hand. Every part of him screamed from the snow, so when his left hand screamed a little louder, he paid it no mind. Yet now his face jerked unintentionally to assess the damage, and his stomach promptly emptied itself on the ice. And also on his clothes.

His hand was _torn_. He could see some of the bones, something like an artery looked bruised at the very _least_, and the only reason he hadn't bled out to death was probably because the blood froze. The Electric Ray had, indeed, short-circuited underwater and released a far-too-strong charge.

His eyes were filled with tears as he tried to stop his stomach's long-desired reaction while he heard the bear get closer. He'd just finished his little...'issue' when he wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve, looking the bear in the eye, faintly hoping to intimidate him. He wasn't surprised to see that failed, too. _Like everything else I tried today!_ His adrenaline kicked in again, and he found himself holding the ray and firing, only to be met with...nothing. He stared at his genius invention in disbelief. The tip looked filled to the brim with electricity, but he quickly realized the water must've fried _something_, because it just couldn't fire its ray for longer than two meters. The water on his labcoat started freezing, pain overcame every sense of his, and the bear stood once more on its hind legs, two meters away from him.

Drakken's mind was a tangled mess of thoughts at this point, and so he ignored all the possible logical things he could do in this scenario, took a deep breath that tore at his esophagus once more and _charged_.

He yelled a battle-cry that resembled a rabid squirrel's as he charged, seemingly confusing the larger predator. Drakken dug up that 'Shego's Moves' file again and studied the possibility of being able to glide on his knees like she did, often out-gambittng her attackers and sliding underneath them. It was around 1.2%, but it _was_ better than nothing, and so, and in his adrenaline-fueled attack (which he was performing while he was, frankly speaking, scared out of his bloody wits), he got down on his knees, tried to lean his back backwards...and promptly received a claw to the stomach. He wasn't as quick Shego, but he'd managed to slide, apparently with minor injuries, even, as he realized the middle of his coat wasn't sporting a new coat of paint.

Before he could decide what that meant, he fired the Electric Ray at the bear's stomach before it could crash on him, and a grin full of satisfaction escaped his torn lips when the animal groaned and tumbled to its left.

Now, he wasn't exactly an environment friendly-man, but he wasn't _thrilled_ about killing endangered species, either. He'd only fired a quick shot, hoping that would be enough to deter the predator, but the determined, furious look in its eyes told him otherwise. And his Electric Ray was now going to have to recharge. Great.

Not leaving a chance for hesitation to settle in, he pressed the trigger, held his weapon in his mouth and ran to his Swiss Army Knife, giving it a good twist before pulling it out of the bear's snout, and it actually _flinched_ in pain as he did so. Normally, Drakken would've felt bad. Not so much now; his mother would've _never_ let him hear the end of it if he'd lost her gift. That, and that he now added this bear in particular to his "People To Take Revenge On" list. The bear's snout looked positively damaged, and yet the moment it recovered, its focus returned to the blue scientist once more.

This time, he hadn't the luxury of messing up. As the bear approached, he tried moving to the side just as the impact was imminent. And he slipped. Though, perhaps it was in his favor for once, as the bear's fangs blurred beside his head, grabbing a part of the Electric Ray for a mere instant before Drakken yanked it back to him and fired. He didn't care anymore about simply warding off the beast, he just fired at the bear's side, watching it get electrocuted in place for half a minute until the charge fully dissipated, ending with a violent 'zap' that sent both the doctor and the bear off their feet.

He wasn't at all surprised when he hit his head for the fourth time today on the icy river. Didn't make it hurt any less. He rolled to his stomach, getting up while inadvertently jerking his head behind him to look at his assailant. The once-fearsome predator was scampering away, a large, vertical cut on his side from where the blue genius shot it. He couldn't help but sprout a satisfied smirk; he'd been on the wrong end of the stick for too long now. That bear had it coming. Sure, it was a bear trying to grab an easy meal, but Dr.Drakken was a man who did not discriminate; he held grudges against _all_ life forms. He still had get revenge on those stupid tables that stub his small toe all the time.

Then all those happy feelings went away when his adrenaline did. Every part of him hurt again, he was now well-aware of how frozen he was, and he smelled of digestive fluids. Wonderful.

He was going to limp at last to his escape pod when he noticed something small and white on the sheet of ice. He narrowed his eyes, hanging his Electric Ray on his belt again, and knelt by it. He'd have smiled if he wasn't pained by every move; it was a fang. A broken piece of one, but whole enough to be recognized. He must've taken it out when he yanked the Electric Ray from his hunter's jaws.

He safely stashed his prize away in his coat's pocket, limping to the pod. His body lost the panic-induced heat, and he was reduced to the miserable, fragile state he was in. Every piece of him hurt. His skin stung from the frozen water, and he wasn't sure he'd make it back with all his fingers, much less his left hand.

Still, he tried maintaining a cheerful spirit as he drew closer to the burning escape pod. The flames had grown small, apparently having consumed a lot of fuel to survive the blizzard its master was knocked into. It was a small, yet comfortable pod that held the basic necessities for both him and Shego to survive the ride with each other; a bathroom, a small oven, some rations -oh how his stomach had been suffering- and a few tables and couches here and there alongside some basic furniture.

Ignoring whatever logic remained in his brain after this scarring adventure of his, he sat next to the fire, extending his hands. It wasn't extremely hot, even though it was coming from the engine, but he attributed that to the blizzard. He'd arrived just on time, too; a few more minutes and it looked like the fuel would end. That had been the first time he could call something 'lucky' today.

It took about ten minutes for his body to warm up enough that he could feel and move his fingers again. And all the pain that came with. He whimpered as he had to run to the small medical storage box he had to stitch up the damaged artery in his left hand now that his blood wasn't frozen anymore. The damage was, thank goodness, largely superficial, and he only almost vomited once, so that was an achievement. His torn hand's injury, which allowed him to peek at his bones, wasn't as superficial, and he half-stitched it before deciding his physical state couldn't handle another intense stomach emptying session.

The stitches were crude, corresponding to his basic medical experience, but bleeding out wasn't on his list of 'Things Which Are Fun And Evil', and so they had to do. He held his broken hand in place with the bit of leather he'd skinned off the dead reindeer, mentally checking his 'Things To Do When Injured' list. It depressed him how many times he had to resort to it.

_But-but all great men have difficulties at first! This is nothing but a mere setback for the dastardly devious Dr.Drakken!_, he thought, particularly proud of the 'Dastardly Devious Drakken' phrase. He'd have to tell Shego about it sometime.

A tear formed in his eye when he limped to the pod's control panel, hissing as the snow storm extinguished what was left of the fire and started stinging him again. Normally, the blue man would've proudly repeated to himself all the functions of his glorious escape vessel. Now, he threw himself on the panel, toggling the emergency power switch to try and activate his GPS. Everything lit up for a moment before darkening again, and he'd have panicked if his mind wasn't there to berate him for what he just did.

_Duh. You flipped it back down; you should've toggled it. What, do you need Shego for that, too?_, he scoffed at himself while the control panel lit up again. Today wasn't a good day for his overinflated-yet-fragile ego. The GPS hummed quietly, trying to pinpoint its coordinates as the mad scientist copied them to message on his phone. He cursed himself for having forgotten to add a GPS function to his self-made satellite phone. Would've saved him a couple of broken bones and one shattered self-esteem.

He sent the message, making sure it had arrived before dialing his Universal Drakken-Line Of World Control. Semantics be darned, it sounded far cooler and eviler than hotlin-_wait was it eviler or more evil?_

-"HOLY CHEESE AND CRACKERS! BOB! GET THE HOVERCAR UP!", Drakken cringed as the loud yelling tore at his frozen ear. What was it with them? Did they not think Doctor Drakken could make it in Siberia for a few hours?...Well, neither did he. "B-Boss! You- I- He-", the blue scientist frowned. Sure, he did need to rev up his grammatical skills every now and again, but did his henchman _really_ need to remember personal pronouns this instant? "Y-You're...alive..."

-"That I am.", his own voice freaked him out. It was so hoarse, small and weak that he wasn't certain it made it to his henchman. Every word sliced at his throat, almost cutting it. "Coordinates attached. Get me.", he managed to squeeze out as his voice was dying out on him. His head started feeling heavy again, and the fire's heat dissipated, making the cold metal surfaces untouchable to the already freezing man. He tried coughing, thinking that could clear his throat, but once that turned into a violent coughing fit that threatened to tear his throat up even more, he realized it may not have been such a bright idea on his part.

-"On our way! We should be at your coordinates in twenty minutes, boss! Hold on tight.", apparently, that henchman of his managed to get out the words that were strangling him. Maybe he'd found of the rare ones that have more than two neuron cells. He would've said something to encourage them further, probably an insult of sorts, but then he realized his throat was- no, had _already_ died out on him, and the only thing he could produce now was a slow hiss of sorts.

He sufficed with a grunt before ending the call again. He was tired, freezing, hungry, but as long as he had a directive, he could grin and bear on. Now? Now he had nothing left to do, and the physical feats he'd accomplished today left him _exhausted_. Every molecular cell in his body was crying to rest, but he couldn't. It'd be too dangerous. Especially now that the cold shivers had returned once more. Great.

He knew he always had this issue; he could be merrily working on a new Doomsday Weapon blueprint for a few hours but the second he finishes it he passes out on his desk, waking up to a disgruntled Shego telling him that it was 2 in the afternoon. He couldn't risk sleeping now, what with how sore his head felt, the bleeding in his left leg which he wasn't sure even _stopped_, and the various other souvenirs this day had left him. He needed to find something to keep him awake.

He limped his way to the once-burning engine. It looked positively disfigured. He let out a muffled hiss of pain as he tried kneeling by it, easily managing to pry off the loose metal parts that covered up the various cables that kept his escape pod running. Unless he enjoyed nearly dying a few times (Hint: He didn't.), then he'd better figure out _what_ caused the thing to fall out from the sky in the first place. That'll keep him awake, at least.

He kept picking at random cables to keep his right hand's fingers from freezing again, not seeing anything that indicated the cables were damaged before they got burned to a crisp during the pod's last moments. He'd built these things himself, and he knew he sometimes forgot about a thing or two -he was still mad at himself for forgetting to add a GPS function to a _satellite phone_\- but he'd personally checked these things with Shego the day before he launched his Electro-Hydro-Heater, she'd have sarcastically noted his failings without skipping a beat. Unfortunately.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. As much as they could in the weather, anyways. He dragged his hand through the mess of burnt cables, wires, and electronic chips and held something black in his hand. He frowned. It was the escape pod's fuel line. It was a standard issue fuel supply line, and while it was burnt like a chicken he forgot for too long in the oven, that wasn't what caught his attention. There was an obvious tear in it, though unorthodox, like a rodent bit through them. Or, more accurately, a naked mole rat.

Then in an instant, everything linked together in his mind. Though, instead of the satisfying mental 'click' sound he thought he'd hear, there was a dreadful silence as his mind connected the dots and revised them. The buffoon's naked mole rat must've bit through random cables to stop the Electro-Hydro-Heater from launching, and due to how close his escape pod's cables were to his genius invention, it probably didn't take much to confuse the critter. From the cut Drakken had observed, the buffoon's pet must've let the fuel-line go after tasting a bit of the fuel, but the hole he'd inflicted slowly leaked out fuel, slowly letting the fuel heat-up from the electricity cables until it got the burning point and-and...went...boom-boom. Great, now his mind was becoming unable to find words. To tell the truth, he didn't know whether that was due to his condition or if it was just one of his 'episodes'.

If his voice didn't have an extremely probable chance of being cast as a creaky door, he'd have cried, yelled, and vowed revenge in one breath on that Kim Possible and her buffoon. Did they not have the ability to differentiate between the Electro-Hydro-Heater and his _escape pod?!_ And the fact that she was-_is_ probably having fun with her family right now, singing Christmas carols, having a homemade feast, watching Snowman Hank, souping her nana's soup, granshing her granshi-what? Drakken shook is head to reboot his dictionary, regretting it as his sore head felt heavier and heavier.

_What_ she was doing didn't matter to him, the important thing was that she was doing anything other than _freezing to death in Siberia_. He threw the torn fuel line in disgust, storming off to someplace else where he didn't have to remember his arch-foe's doings against him. He shot a glance at one of the walls which remained relatively intact, staring at the small calendar he hanged there as if it had personally offended him. _Merry Christmas! The world shall bow down to me!_ He'd written that on Christmas day to motivate him, but now he clenched his right fist and gritted his teeth before mellowing out in a moment. He didn't have the strength to do that. Not now.

His head hurt, and he wasn't certain what time it was anymore. He wasn't even able to bother and look at his phone's digi-clock, so he hadn't a clue when his henchmen would be there. He wanted to try and study his coordinates, but instead of obeying and walking to the GPS, his body crumbled and instead voted to sit on the pod's cold, metal floor. He couldn't stand up anymore. Every part of him felt like it had been turned into marshmallows.

He just wanted some rest. That was all. Five minutes of rest and the henchmen would be there.

His head started to lean down on his chest. The freezing air was still scalding him, but he didn't move. He couldn't be bothered to. Even his growling stomach couldn't force his broken body to get up. His breathing quickened for a split second, and his mind replayed events of the day. He scowled as he analyzed each and every one of them.

From start to end, this day was horrible. From the aching he experienced when he first landed in the snowy weather, to the bear chase, to nearly drowning in freezing water, nothing went his way. Except for not dying, though, with how pained he was, he doubted that was what he'd call "good luck". Sure, he was a supervillain, but even _he_ didn't deserve such treatment...Especially not on Christmas night.

What broke him, however, wasn't what happened. He'd been injured several times in an exploding lair with Shego, and granted, the injuries were never this painful, but still, what broke his spirit was simply how useless he felt. Everytime, it'd be Shego who stops the malfunctioning Doomsday Weapon, save him from the debris, and be forced to endure him whining and yelling about his failure while she applies band-aids so that he'd stop crying about his injuries.

This time, he'd hoped to prove to her- to _himself_ that he wasn't an idiotic man who couldn't take care of himself. And he failed. Not a surprise, at this point. Almost everything that could've gone wrong went wrong -Perhaps he'd test out how that complies with Murphy's law- in the worst way possible. It seemed like sheer chance and the adrenaline-rush were the only things that saved him this night. And he _hated_ it.

He hated not being able to defend himself. He hated having to rely on Shego all the time to not fail. He hated how little respect she had for him for how much of a weakling he was. He hated how she, for all intents and purposes, seemingly thought of him as nothing more than a hindrance. He wanted her to at least _respect_ him, nevermind her being _friendly_ -although, his mind thought, he wouldn't object to that should it happen- towards him. He wanted to be able to fend off Kim Possible without having to depend on Shego, often getting injuries worse than his because of how many blows she'd sustain, not to mention her having to save him from the crumbling lair. Granted, she had super-powers and walked said injuries off in two hours, but he didn't like seeing her in such a state after a fight. He just wanted to succeed at _something_ for once. Was that too much to ask for?

Apparently so.

His chest hitched, and his eyes stung. _Great going, Drakken. Prove how evil you are by crying your eyes out like a six-year old who fell while running!_ But in spite of his mind's scolding, he didn't care. He just wanted to relieve himself. Not like it'll make the situation any worse. He couldn't even feel the small tear that slid out of his eye, running across his face; his nerves were going numb again. The small tear froze somewhere on his chin, but he couldn't acknowledge it; his head felt too heavy. One last thought crossed his mind.

_Maybe Shego could at least understand this time...Maybe she'll understand..._

And then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good day, afternoon, or night, folks! Welcome to 'A Bit Blue', also known as my attempt to try and get the characterizations right in a semi-shippy FanFic. So it turns out I was into Kim Possible, who knew? And after rewatching the show (well...a decent part of it so far), I couldn't help but fall in love with a certain villainous duo that simply had a great dynamic: Drakken and Shego.
> 
> So I saw them bicker at first and thought it'd be a fun relationship, but a few dozen episodes and what was probably a hundred 'fics read later, I'm shipping them pretty darn seriously. I simply find them to be great matches; complementary, even, if that's the word. Still, I'm not great with shippiness and romance as a whole, so this is going to be me trying my hand at showing and/or hinting characters like each other.
> 
> Strangely enough, I was hoping for this to be a one-shot, where Shego finds Drakken badly injured after she returns from one of her frequent vacations and then deals with some...emotions, I suppose. In fact, this entire chapter was supposed to be a few paragraphs in the original idea, but then a little plot-bunny came to me and said:"What if you wrote about how Drakken actually got stuck in Siberia?". Of course, said rabbit ran away laughing, but then it realized just how easy I am to persuade when it comes to writing scenarios. I tried to stuff this chapter with how Shego influences Drakken's life without having it seem forced or too sudden; him suddenly thinking he liked her and her company would be pretty strange with no proper build-up, so I tried keeping their awkward friendship dynamic.
> 
> The story takes place sometime between Season 2 and Season 3. I went with the notion that 'A Very Possible Christmas' was Season 1's Christmas mostly because I just wanted a Christmas setting. Eh, it's your choice, really, put it wherever you see fit.
> 
> Also, a little confession on my part: I've never actually seen real snow. Other than whenever we clean our freezer, my only experiences with snow are documentaries. I imagined it was basically a reverse-hyperthermia stroke, and since I've had plenty of those (Not pretty, I must say.) over the years, I tried imitating its unpleasantness, just with snow, so keep in mind most of my descriptions here are my own imagination and the Wikipedia page on hypothermia. A good writer must be able to write scenarios he didn't experience after all, right? I did, however, have a few experiences with drowning, so I suppose that helped me write an semi-accurate drowning experience...?
> 
> Bah, enough of that, Chapter 2 is underway, folks, don't worry, and I'm hoping for it to be published soon, but until then, I've been wanting YOUR feedback. A lot of it. I tried my best at capturing the slightly-not-sane person which is Dr. Drakken, and I tried portraying Shego in-character, but if you feel like anything feels rushed, awkward, or odd, do tell me. Your thoughts about the 'Fic as a whole are also wholly welcome! Every single one of them, I appreciate them!
> 
> Until next time, folks, keep being spankin'. (Is that the correct 'slang'?)


	2. Medicinal Issues

The Bahamas were, simply put, marvelous. 

The ocean's water was unbelievably pure, glistening under the sun with its aquamarine hues, the wind cooled the sun's seemingly never-ending presence, and with the lowest temperature being 18 degrees Celsius, Shego never got bored of the tropical archipelago.

She was sunbathing in a private beach, locking her hands behind her head as she took in the sun's warm rays. She'd spent far too much time freezing like a popsicle in Dr.D's latest lair, and while, yes, "every evil lair must be well-hidden from public view", as he'd repeatedly told her during his many, _many_ rants, she'd have much preferred it if he could hide more lairs in the Caribbean and less in remote, damp, humid, cold places.

As it was now, she couldn't care less for being secretive; she just wanted to make the most of her well-deserved Christmas vacation. It was only going to last for a week or two anyways, and knowing Dr.D, he'd probably manage to ruin it halfway through, asking her to come save him from yet another plan which had failed _exactly_ in the way she told him it would. Honestly, she sometimes wondered if he even _listened_ to her advice.

_Probably not_, she thought; Drakken was, in spite of everything that happened to him, far too stubborn and prideful to admit whenever there's someone doing something better than him. Immature as it was, he always wanted to be the best at everything, like some kindergarten kids would. It was one way to describe the loon: Immature; whenever his plans would fail, he wouldn't just sulk, get mad or vow revenge, no, he actually has his feelings _hurt_. He'd whine, pout, and there were times where she saw him _cry_, and not in a dramatic way to try and get her attention, this was a grown-up man _crying_ in front of his sidekick because his plan failed. She was so flabbergasted by this the first time it happened she legitimately thought he'd lost it from his self-imposed solitude like he feared. And then she got mad. What kind of self-proclaimed genius supervillain _cries_?

The days such behavior shocked her were long gone, however, and four years or so of working with the guy made her less shocked and more unimpressed whenever that happened. And while the crying got rarer after she started showing just how much she didn't appreciate it, he still had to bicker with her for who's to blame after each and every failure. She never understood how after the foiling of every scheme of his, he still had the _audacity_ -and, frankly, the energy- to sometimes blame _her_ for the failure. It was another trait he simply 'had', and another one she couldn't stand.

-"Another smoothie, miss?", a calm, deep voice asked from beside her beach-chair, interrupting her thoughts. She looked next to her to find a waiter from the beach's cafeteria. He was pretty tanned, had a muscular build, and was handing her a rather large glass with a strawberry smoothie.

-"Don't mind if I do!", she energetically answered, sending him a wink from behind her sunglasses. She practically yanked the smoothie from the plate it was on and savored its cool, refreshing taste. Of course, she'd always ask for coffee, tea, or other such beverages when working with Drakken, but even _she_ was allowed to like sugary drinks at times, she just wasn't going to give her employer the pleasure of knowing more personal information about her than he needed to. That, and that it was all pre-paid for, so she needn't worry about the costs.

Her smile turned into a smirk. Dr.D had _no_ idea what he'd gotten himself into by covering all the expenses. She'd be spending from his credit card like there's no tomorrow. She was honestly surprised when she received his credit card by mail the afternoon of her arrival with another sappy note of his declaring oh-so-proudly that he paid for the entire trip. After the initial surprise had worn out, she'd been unusually content. Sure, Dr.D was sappy, arrogant, uncaring at times, snobby, had a way-too-big ego...the list went on. Yet for all his shortcomings, he did, if nothing else, give good rewards. At times. When he wasn't cutting corners to save up for a new Doomsday device.

Still, this time, she couldn't help but feel..._grateful_, as much as it was a foreign feeling to her, for his offer. For all his quirks, this pre-paid vacation he gave her twice in a row now seemed to indicate he, at the very least, valued his safety and decided that a happy Shego was a safe Shego.

The thought silently swam in the back of her mind before she shook it off with a dismissive wave, enjoying a refreshing breeze. She'd taken this vacation to be _away_ from Drakken and his spectacularly stupid schemes, she wasn't about to think about work now. Especially with the new hottie she'd found. 

She stared at the bronze-coloured man she'd met, giving him a wide grin. He was currently water skiing, sending her a wide wave from his water-ski when the boat that was towing him got closer to the beach. Steven, if she remembered correctly, was his name. He'd sort of approached her the moment she got out of the ocean's water to sunbathe a little, and when he proved that he wasn't going to try and to anything to mess with her -or if he did, then he had the common sense to do so _later_-, she decided to have fun with him for a few days.

Of course, Shego wasn't some sentimental dipstick, but some fun every now and again couldn't hurt, not to mention relieve her of her work stress. She gave him three to four days at maximum before knowing she'd get bored with him. That's simply how she worked; free as a bird and traveling light. The last long-term relationship she'd entered was back in _college_ and...that just didn't end well.

She shook her head in dismay; Shego didn't wallow in the past. It was one of things she simply didn't 'do' alongside sweetness, crying, and guilt. There were other things, but she never worried about them. What good would that do?

_None at all_, she calmly concluded as Steven left the water-ski and started coming out of the ocean's water, slowly walking towards her while he glistened under the sun. She kept her grin, taking off her sunglasses to look her new companion in the eye. He had brown eyes, adding to his generally pleasing face. One simple look told Shego he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but she wasn't exactly going to settle down with the man, was she?

-"Somethin' wrong, She-babe?", he let out a confused question as he saw Shego's expression sour from the thought that just passed through her mind. _Settle down? Her? With **him**? Yuck!_

-"Nah, nothing at all, Stevie.", she reassured him, carelessly waving her hand. She was definitely _not_ into this strange pet-name he gave her, but what did she care? She could tolerate it for a few days. It _was_, admittedly, fun to see the idiot bumble about, thinking he's wow-ing her.

-"Y'know, sweetie, I've been thinking about seeing this bar with you. They say it's got all sorts of drinks.", he winked, and Shego struggled against a snort. What, did he really think she was _that_ naïve? She was just about to sarcastically put him into place when another waiter came into view. She squinted, trying to see what he held on the platter, and then held her breath when she realized it was a phone. She turned her focus back to Steven, praying as hard as possible that the phone wasn't meant for her.

-"It's for you, miss.", of course, why wouldn't it be? The glare she sent at the waiter could've melted an iron bar, or so she thought, judging by the fact that he actually flinched, obviously intimidated. She sent her new partner an apologetic glance which he couldn't decipher before she furiously picked the phone up, not even checking the caller as she lamented her short-lived vacation- It lasted for one day, for pity's sake!

-"_What is it?!_", she growled, fully anticipating the erratic, scared, I-need-help voice of Dr.D to come through the other side, but much to her surprise, it didn't. Instead, an unknown voice gulped from the other side, trying to find some courage to speak.

-"U-Uh....i-is this Miss Shego's phone?", she blinked for a moment as she tried recognizing the voice. It was a man's, that much was apparent, but it sounded like no one she knew, much less Drakken. A small list flew through her mind. Definitely not Junior's flamboyant one, neither his father's politer one. It didn't have the extremely British accent of Monty Fiske's nor the Scottish one that Duff Killigan possessed. Not that she even expected those last two to have her number. And that was the list of men she knew had her phone number. Suddenly, a grimace crept onto her face.

-"You're not some sort of telemarketer, are you?", she lowered her voice threateningly as she felt her hands heat up. She couldn't risk letting the world recognize her as the international criminal she was (how many women had glowing green hands?), but if her vacation was going to be interrupted by _telemarketers_ of all things, then she was more than ready to melt the phone right then and there. She knew her tone would've made anyone who had no good reason to call her wet their pants, much less pester her about useless products, so when the man calling simply gulped again and took a deep breath, she actually listened.

-"I-I...My name i-is John, a-and...I'm one of your henchmen.", she suddenly looked preplexed. Very preplexed. Why on _earth _would a _henchman_ of all people be calling her? She barely even interacted with the lot, it was always Drakken and his stupid "Bonding" sessions. When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Since you didn't...didn't hang-up, I'll assume I-I'm calling Miss Shego...I...Uh...I just needed to tell you that-", he tried mumbling, but a loud yell interrupted him from the other side. She couldn't tell what was being yelled at him or what he yelled back, but she _could_ tell it wasn't English. The yelling continued for a minute during which the green villainess seriously debated hanging-up in his face -she had no tolerance for people who didn't get to the point- when he came back.

-"Well?"

-"I-I...I was assigned by Doctor Drakken t-to...to...", _there we go_, she sighed, looking at Steven, who still had no idea what was going on. She fully anticipated that sentence to end with 'tell you to save him.', but instead, it went somewhere entirely different, "Wish you a Merry Christmas! O-O-Of course, yeah, he...he thought it would be an-uh, a nice gesture!", he stuttered, unsure of what he just said, and to be honest, so was Shego. She remained speechless for a moment; he'd already given her his sappy note what could he possibly want with that greeting?

-"And?", she demanded, not buying the henchman's tone _or_ proposal.

-"And...Well, I'm on Christmas shift so...I-uh...He gave me this...list to ask you and...get answers.", he admitted, steadying his voice. Shego analyzed it for a second, trying to see if she could sense a lie. When she remained silent, he continued, "Uh...so, which of the lairs do you prefer?", he asked meekly. Shego blinked. Alright, so Dr.D wasn't the sanest person on earth -he had _mad_ in his job description- , but even then, she never thought he'd actually be as deranged as to try and interrupt her vacation to ask her about something as trivial as _this_. "Y-Y'know, he just wanted to...uh...know where to buy a new one!", John confirmed, trying to maintain a confident tone. He failed miserably.

-"...If I tell you, will you hang-up and never call again?", she heard a nod from the other side, "...fine, I like Carribean ones, they're nice and cozy...Uh, there's also those few isolated islands near Australia. It's a bit tropical, next to some French island or something...In fact, just consider every lair in a nice, warm, tropical enviorment to be my favorite; I don't do snow, and the isolated ones aren't my tast-", she started before reevaluating that last sentence, "Y'know what? Tell him I like the Ellesmere Island lair and...a small lair of his up north, too.", she concluded. Admittedly, the isolated ones up north were great for hiding...if he could find something between the tropical ones and the northern lairs, it'd be just perfect.

-"Ah...very informative, Miss Sh-Shego...Err, one more thing, do you like Commodore Puddles?", he replied as quick as possible, expecting her to hang-up, but instead she growled.

-"This isn't some attempt to make me care for the stupid thing, is it? It tore apart my favorite dress when he was just bought, for pity's sake! And how am I supposed to like something so _pink-_", she immediately ranted, venting her frustrations about Drakken's pet dog. Then suddenly, the yelling from the other side resumed again, and this time, John didn't seem to bother holding the phone away while he yelled.

-"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN "ENTERING TOTAL BODILY FAILURE"? DO SOMETHING!_", he cried, his voice shaken by grief more than anger.

-"...Uh...you okay there, Bob?", alright, so Shego wasn't exactly one to care about the _Henchmen_'s feelings, of all things, she wasn't even sure she got this one's name right, but hearing someone yell so desperately only required you to be human to respond, and Shego, excluding her superpowers, was a human, after all.

-"No! I mean- yes! I-It's...It's just my wife giving birth! She's having complications and we don't know if we can save her or the baby!", he countered, his voice sounding all-too-cheerful for what he's describing.

-"Your wife is giving _birth_?", she asked, her eyes widening, "That jerk! Who lets their employees work on Christmas while their wife's giving birth?!", she snapped, startling John from the other side, "That's it, I swear when I see Dr.D I'm-", her yelling was cut short, however, by another scream from another side. She heard some frantic footsteps as the yelling continued.

-"C'mon, c'mon...breathe, for pity's sake!", Shego did nothing but listen as she tried piecing together the information she was hearing, emboldening the note in her mind to slap Dr.D for what he was doing to his henchman. She never cared for them, but this was going on an entirely new level of wrong. "Yeah, well, big news, I don't know how to do CPR either! Just...Just...Here, this cable's ought to do it-", before the green villainess could object to the medical horror that was unfolding beside her ears, a big 'zap' echoed from the other side, alongside the sound of a few things hitting the floor.

-"Hello? Jake? Is everything alright?", it seemed the yelling had stopped and turned into a much more peaceful talk. *That* was what worried her. She expected a lot more confusion and startlement out of the people around the hospital if the man had really brought a loose cable to try and perform _CPR_. Also, what kind of hospital staff didn't know how to perform CPR?

-"...U-Uh, I...I...He-She-I, I mean, yes? No?", she frowned, slightly losing the already little sympathy she felt for the henchman; what kind of answer was that? Sensing something was wrong, John's voice came again, "We...We lost the baby...? But my wife is alive? I, uh...crshhh, static, can't hear you! Thanks for everything okay bye!", and with that, he hung up, leaving an extraordinarily confused and conflicted Shego to from an opinion on this mess.

So apparently Dr.D had people work on Christmas. Not surprising, really; _someone_ had to look after the gazillion lairs he kept around, but this...she didn't really know how Dr.D, sentimental dipstick that he was, somehow had the heart to let one of his henchmen work on the night he was supposed to become a father. She did know that she'd give him a good smacking for it; having her vacation interrupted was one thing, hearing _this_ was a whole other kind of wrong. She knew the guy on the other side was lying through his teeth -honestly, who wouldn't figure it out?- yet she couldn't figure out what in the good gosh darn that was.

-"Uh, She-babe, what was that?", Steven pulled her out of her thoughts, still wearing that puzzled look one would wear if someone tried to explain Quantum Physics to them at two in the morning.

-"Oh, nothing, just some family matters, one of my...cousins had a child, wanted me to know, y'know. That stuff.", she casually answered, giving him a nonchalant glance as she reevaluated what she just said. _Family matters?_ Sure, Drakken had this absurd idea of them being an 'evil family', but now _she_ was getting used to that whole idea? Nuh-uh. That just wasn't how she rolled.

-"Ah, trouble back home, eh? Bet it's pretty relaxing to be here when everyone's freaking out.", he chuckled, leaning in to look Shego in the face. She seemed conflicted, on one hand, she'd have liked to know what on earth was going on back there, on the other...Her Christmas vacation was just one week, and she could always phone Drakken if she really had to inquire. 

She smiled briefly, turning her attention back to Steven and letting those thoughts drift away. It's not as if she cared about a henchman's personal life, anyways.

* * *

So her vacation had been fun, admittedly. She'd predictably ditched what's-his-name after she'd had her fun with no regrets, and she even managed to sneak in a couple of extra days to lengthen her vacation. Surprisingly, Drakken had nothing to say; he always whined and complained whenever she'd take an extra vacation day without his consent, so when she was off the radar for nearly an extra week and he didn't even send an angry voice-mail, she was...well, not concerned, never that, but intrigued to his sudden change of heart, especially considering he didn't let his henchman take a vacation the day his _wife was giving birth_.

She still had to slap him for that one. There was being evil, and then there was that. Besides, who knows, maybe he could use that as an excuse to try and be stern and then follow it up by cutting her vacations, which was simply unacceptable.

She was now standing in a secluded beach she'd drove a car which she stole to. She couldn't simply take a plane, what with her having stolen some souvenirs on the way back, so having a bunch of transport methods available at her disposal was a nice perk that came with her job.

Now if only that stupid geek would pick up his phone.

She'd been calling for half an hour at this point, yet still no response. She knew his plan must've failed when at this point he wasn't even ruling to stupidly-named Drakkanada, much less the world, but he'd better not have been sulking around and sobbing his heart out. Shego wasn't really looking forward to pamper his overly large ego after such a great vacation. He was a 'big boy', in his mother's words, and he should've been able to deal with his problems on his own.

He also should've picked up the moment she rang his phone, because standing around in the sun with her regular catsuit wasn't exactly comfortable in the slightest. She let out an annoyed groan, wondering why she didn't ask for a hovercar to take with her before the phone finally picked up.

-"Good _grief_, took you long enough, Dr.D. What, were you trying to sleep off your latest failure or what?", she mocked, her positive mood slightly ruined by the sun's scorching heat.

-"...Uh, M-Miss Shego? Is that you?", a nervous voice replied, catching the green supervillainess off-guard. Dr.D _never_ let somebody else pick up his phone, much less what appeared to be a henchman.

-"Yeah, it's me alright. What's with you lot these days? I mean, listen, where's Drakken?", she demanded, sounding impatient and menacing at the same time; she didn't have time for this, and some tiny, largely repressed part of her didn't know how to feel about Drakken not answering.

-"...Uh, Doctor Drakken is...busy. Doing stuff.", he replied, his voice radiating with a tone that could only be described as "Please don't let her be able to throw plasma through the phone.". Luckily for him, that wasn't a superpower she had, which was a shame considering how often she would've benefited from it.

-"Gee, what a wonderfully satisfying answer.", she deadpanned, seriously doubting this henchman could've helped her get a ride when he couldn't phrase a good explanation. "Hey listen, I'm stuck on the Bahamas and I need a ride, so if you could send me a hovercar that'd be much appreciated.", saying that she asked would be an understatement; her voice had this underlying tone that told anyone that was a demand. "And _don't_ forget to program the coordinates to Drakken's current lair because I'm _not_ gonna trot around the globe to search for him.", she added, earning a nod from the other side. Apparently, the henchman had been too intimidated to answer.

-"R-Right. A hovercar should be at your location soon, Miss Shego.", and just like that, she ended the call. She certainly wasn't going to thank a henchman for doing his job.

She took a look at her suitcases, mentally checking if she forgot anything important. She found none. It was odd, really, how it seemed like her employer was shying from her, but she's seen him do stranger things, so she tried to dismiss it. Even so, was he so busy he couldn't even answer his phone? He never did that. It was almost...concerning. Then again, what did _she_ care? He was probably being a big child like he always did after each defeat, it was nothing to worry about.

Yeah. That was it. He was just being immature.

She tried switching the subjects in her mind, starting to think of what Drakken had in store for her to try an conquer the world next. Probably something far-fetched and overly complicated with a slim chance of not blowing up (quite literally) in his face, but in all honesty, it wasn't as if she could really complain, after all, she stayed, didn't she?

At first, working with Dr.D wasn't really all that bad; his plans had moderate success before Kimmie showed up with her holier-than-thou mindset and obnoxious teenage optimism. Of course, he didn't quite manage world domination, but he'd taken over a country or two. That never lasted long, of course, as he either needed something out of that country's Intelligence Agency and then left it or was opposed by the people. They weren't even large countries, anyways. And trust her, back then, he wasn't any better, but the fact that he treated her with basic decency, even if he yelled at her a _lot_, and that he gave her a six-digit salary made her bear through his eccentricities. She enjoyed the thrill of the job, its large salary, and the fact that she could mock, tease and insult her employer without him firing her was simply icing on the top.

Of course, she had to ask herself why she stayed after the whole mind-control fiasco. That was a clusterfrick that she _reaaaally_ hadn't enjoyed. If he'd gone as far as mind-control her to simply make her listen to his stories, how far would he go to achieve his grand-goals or something like that? The answer she found herself accepting was that because it simply wasn't in Dr.D to do something like that. The man could have a woman pose in front of him on a table and try flirting with him and he'd either be too absorbed in his work to notice it or be unable to _comprehend_ what was happening. He simply thought it was acceptable to make someone listen to him under the influence of mind-control. Of course, the beating she gave him that day convinced him otherwise, but she couldn't fully grasp how he simply treated it as if it was nothing wrong. He was so distant from people he couldn't understand that they liked this tiny thing called "freedom".

Still, for all his awkwardness and, frankly, plain stupidity at times, he was fun to mess with, if nothing else. His reactions were always entertaining, and he never actually lowered her salary for it like she'd expected. And even with his inherent softness, he could be _somewhat_ threatening when push came to shove. At times. Maybe. She wasn't even sure it was his intention to be menacing the rare times he was, which made it all the more surprising.

A mechanical humming noise approached her, and she laid her eyes on one of Dr.D's hovercrafts, one of his few original inventions. They were quick, smooth, and slightly fashionable if you ignored Dr.D's horrendous under-use of colours other than grey. It stopped right in front of her, letting out a way-too-loud 'beep' that signaled its arrival as Shego hastily shoved her suitcases on the free seats and took control of the steering-wheel; it wasn't often you saw a hovercar, and it wouldn't be long before authorities investigate.

She turned the key and didn't look back, leaving the Bahamas and enjoying the nice, refreshing breeze that accompanied the speed at which she moved, her lush jet-black hair swaying back in the wind. Once she was certain she made it far enough from the coast, she glanced at the screen in the middle of the hovercar's control panel displaying Dr.D's coordinates, and her eyes widened momentarily. _Kamchatka?_ He's only ever been there when hiding from the authorities, and as far as she knew, his latest plan took place in Canada. She shook the confusion she felt away as another feeling settled in: Annoyance. Great, now she was going to have to go to the freezing tundra just to see her boss sulking after he failed for some stupid reason. That was one of the less amusing parts of her job.

She sighed as she set her ride on autopilot, taking in the gorgeous ocean surrounding her that would soon be replaced by lots and lots of snow. She didn't quite need warm clothes in cold climates, what with her having burning plasma powers, but it never made being in cold environments any more pleasing, as while she didn't exactly freeze to death, she still felt cold, and that was never a nice feeling.

The ride to Kamchatka would probably take an hour as the hovercars were unexpectedly fast, and so she decided to lay back and relax, trying to mentally prepare herself to see an overly grumpy Drakken.

* * *

The Kamchatka lair was cold, ugly, hard to reach and overall unpleasant. It was situated inside the top of a particularly high hill, which made spotting it and reaching it even more needlessly difficult than it already was. The doors, while giving off an intimidating vibe, were the place's only parts where Drakken had decided to not be cheap. Not that he had much of an option anywhere else; his budget was extremely limited when it came to furnishing this place, as he had built it during a particularly rough period for both of them, but he could still try to make it more...well, hospitable now that he had the funds, couldn't he?

Well, she could always tell him to do so now that we was about to meet him. She parked the hovercar in the standard lair garage and left her belongings in it, knowing that she'd probably quickly move to another lair once Drakken gets out of his bad mood and creates another world-domination plan. That, and that she knew none of the henchmen would dare to touch her stuff if they valued their personal safety.

The lair still had Christmas decorations here and there, apparently left in place because nobody bothered to remove them. The main room, which, much to Shego's frustrations, had no TV, had a gorgeous pine tree in its center, which was wonderfully decorated. Having a steady supply of Pine Trees literally growing on your front porch had its perks, apparently. She went inside the room and noticed the tree was actually _planted_ in the ground. Must've been one of Drakken's strange decisions. As she stood there, trying to remember where the outrageously small (By Drakken's standards) lab was, a henchman walked into the room, apparently startled, if the small yell he let out was any indication.

-"M-Miss-"

-"Yeah, yeah, I get it, you didn't expect to see me here, where's Dr.D?", she interrupted the red-suited man, not quite in the mood for henchmen antics.

-"Ah...Well, you...uh, you see, we were tasked to deliver a small...message to you from Doctor Drakken, Miss Shego, if you'd just allow me a moment t-to...find it...", he stuttered, taking a step back as he sized his lanky body in comparison to Shego's fit, muscular one. He didn't like his chances against her if she turned mad. He had a strange accent, something between Russian and English, but she assumed Drakken actually employed people fluent with the native tongue of wherever his lairs were.

-"Gee, I sure hope it's not a message saying he left _right_ before I reached this stupid place.", her words were coated with a fake-sugary tone, but the man in front of her knew that if he said anything she didn't like, he'd have one very painful day. Luckily for him, a door opened next to them to reveal a larger henchman getting out while rubbing his hands to clean them from something.

-"Hey John, I left the boss his breakfast since he's still sleep...ing...", he didn't even bother trying to recognize Shego, gulping silently while John tried to form his thoughts into words. He had an extra moment to do so as the green villainess was caught off-guard by the announcement.

-"_Breakfast_? It's two in the afternoon! Don't tell me Drakken overslept _again_...", she let out an exasperated sigh while bringing her hand to her temple. It was one thing for him to oversleep, now he was making the _henchmen_ bring him breakfast?! This grumpy episode of his could be worse than she expected. Before she could let out a complaint, John shoved a bunch of papers in her face. She looked back at him. He was shielding his face with his free arm, apparently too intimidated to even read the papers out-loud.

She gave him a withering glance before snatching the papers, looking at them with disinterest before her eyes widened when she saw their title: "DOCTOR DRAKKEN'S WILL". She blinked momentarily before she chuckled.

-"Okay, I gotta admit, this got a kick out of me, but don't you guys think Drakken's taking his latest failure a bit too seriously?", she interrogated, her hands resting on her hips as she cocked them to the side. Her wide grin slowly started to die out when the two henchmen only stared at each other for a moment, apparently questioning their next move.

She didn't wait for them to reply, instead immediately reading the papers handed to her, which were directly addressing her. They had the standard will format on the first page, and the fact that it seemed so calm made it all the worse, honestly. She turned the page, staring at what was written in shock, not wanting to lose her calm yet.

_...In the past couple of days, it had come to my attention that I am not invulnerable, and as such, I decided that I must reward those who stood by my side throughout all these years of villainy, especially you, Shego. There should be list of the things I'm leaving in case I am ever deceased. It has been a pleasure working with you._

Following that small paragraph was a massive list of tropical lairs, sums of money, you name it. Everything Dr.D had in his possession that Shego could want. She stared, unable to fully comprehend the list she was seeing. She looked at some of the last items. A lair on Clipperton Isle. A nice, tropical, sunny isolated isle, according to the small note he wrote next to it. Not that it mattered to Shego, who stood there, unable to fully process the information that was being handed to her. She felt...something tugging at her. It couldn't be sadness, never...just...anger. Yeah, that was it. That was what she decided, anyways, as her hands lit up with their iconic green plasma, moving towards the henchmen.

-"Explain! What is this supposed to _be_?!", she demanded, ignoring the squeak the two men produced as she stomped towards them. "_What_ did that fool do to himself?", she continued, unsure if she said it to them or to herself. She'd been working with Drakken for nearly four years now, and she'd certainly considered the possibility of him dying once or twice, but now that it seemed to be the case, she didn't know how to react. She simply didn't. For all her snark, mocking, and general smugness, she had to admit that Dr.D was the closest thing she had to a long-term friend, which was...embarrassing, to say the least; he was her geeky, arrogant, blue _boss_, for crying out loud.

-"He's not dead! We just served him breakfast", the slim one yelled, trying to contain her anger.

-"Y-Yeah! He wrote this just in case!", the other one spoke up, huddling against the wall, as if hoping it would protect him from Shego's wrath. He was wrong. What saved the two from a quick visit to the ER, however, was that their answers actually got the green-skinned villainess' attention. Or so they hoped, as she lowered their hands, even when she didn't douse the green plasma flames that remained ever so daunting.

-"Where is Drakken?", she asked, her calm tone unconvincing. The two henchmen stared at each other before the slimmer one gulped and started talking:

-"He's in his bedroom...? Up the stairs behind that door...?", he slowly answered, judging every word of his and seeing if it satisfied the woman capable of killing him this instant. It seemed that for the moment, it did, as she doused her flame-covered hands and headed for the door, mumbling a barely audible 'Thanks' under her breath and then immediately rethinking what she just said. Had she really thanked the henchmen? Goodness, she must've gotten a flu or something on the way here, otherwise why would she thank the henchmen for giving her information about _Drakken_?

She ignored the thought and walked past the henchmen's wide eyes, apparently just as surprised she thanked them. Her footsteps were quick, climbing the stairs two steps at a time until she finally reached the over-decorated double doors of his room. She was just about to turn the knob when she felt an uneasy feeling run through her; none of them ever entered each other's rooms except on emergency situations. He was alive, wasn't he? From how the two idiots down below talked about him, it seemed as if he was hurt. He wouldn't be able to object anyways, and she had to make sure her pay-check was going to arrive at the end of this month. She took a deep breath, maintained her usual bored expression and turned the knob before stepping into the room.

She stomped, ready to mock Dr.D and get him riled up for another evil plot, and yet the moment she laid eyes on him she immediately softened. He was bed-ridden, laying under some covers that barely let his head poke through. His blue tint seemed more sickly than usual, and his eyes were closed. She took a couple steps forward, trying to get a better look at him. He was breathing from his mouth, probably because he had a flu or something, and he looked positively miserable. His face had a few large bandages on it here and there, and his eyes seemed to be deeper in their sockets, finishing his look. _What in the world could've done that to him?_

She silently studied his movements, watching him breathe before he tried moving his arm towards something. He was trying to grab something from a table on his left with his right arm and his eyes closed. Typical Dr.D. She'd have relaxed for a moment, knowing he'd be able to give her her pay-check this month, if it wasn't for what she saw on the table itself. Drakken's "breakfast" was composed of several types of vitamins, medicines, antibiotics and a single cup of water. This was for the same Drakken who usually gobbled gherkins, doughnuts and several sandwiches on a daily basis.

She turned her attention back to him. He was trying his earnest, she'd give him that, but his arm just wasn't long enough to reach. It was then he did something unthinkable: He grabbed her arm, shaking it for a mere moment before pointing to the cup of water, apparently knowing its location despite his eyes remaining tightly shut. He must've thought she was one of his henchmen. She debated informing him of her presence for a moment before she quietly handed him the glass of water and watched as he nodded before taking a sip. He seemed reluctant at first, slowly bringing it to his lips before deciding to swallow the sip he took, and he shut his eyes further, as if anticipating something before he relaxed, a small smile forming on his lips as his hand grabbed Shego's arm again, much to her surprise.

-"B-Bob!", his voice was all kinds of wrong. It lacked the overexcited arrogance it usually gleamed with, and it didn't have the slightest bit of frustration. It was also weak. So very weak. If it wasn't for the fact that she saw him when he was calm at times, she might've mistaken that weakness for calm. "It...It didn't hurt! A slight itch, y-yes, but my throat's clearing up!...I think anyways...", he grabbed her arm and started shaking it with that last statement, and she remained speechless for a moment, still studying his voice and expressions. "...Y'know, Bob, it'd be nice to show some enthusiasm when I'm feeling worse than that time Shego whipped me.", he grabbed her attention once more, gesturing with his head towards her, his eyes still closed, and this time she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

  
-"Woo. Extra woo. And when did I ever _whip you_? You're _so_ not confessing your kinks right now, are you?", she mocked, almost regretting it a moment later when the blue body in the bed convulsed, his eyes now wide open. He struggled to maintain himself upright, looking at her with pure confusion.

-"_Shego?_ What are _you_ doing here?", he stared at her, his eyes unbelieving and his voice still a distorted mess. He'd apparently regretted trying to get up so quickly, as it must've strained a muscle or two. If he even had some. He gasped in shock as he tried regaining a comfortable posture, his eyes still focused on his visitor.

-"Came to see if I was still getting my pay-check this month. Thought you'd be a little happier to see I actually remembered you.", she nonchalantly replied, easing up at the fact he wasn't as bad as he looked. He looked almost disappointed at her dismissive attitude, but then again, what was he expecting? Just because she came to see him didn't mean she was going to pamper his ego up. Not by a long shot.

-"Well, you're in luck; I think I'll make it.", he winced as he said it, still trying to find a comfortable position for his body as he leaned on his left hand. Shego kept staring at him.

-"Y'know, speaking of which, what actually...happened...", she trailed off as she took a better look at his left hand. She never actually got a look at his tiny fingers, what with him always wearing his "sciencey gloves", but that wasn't what grabbed her attention. What grabbed her attention was the amount of stitches that did a full circle around it. He couldn't have...? Would he...? No, it simply wasn't logical; Dr.D was prone to emotional outbursts alright, but never that far, right? "What happened to your hand?"

-"My hand?", he repeated meekly, and she instantly hated herself for the fact that her tone was actually seemed like it was concerned. That wasn't how she _was_. He took a moment to look at his hand, as if re-familiarizing himself with it before something clicked. "Oh, right. It's none of your business, anyways, just a small accident, nothing more...", he was lying through his teeth. She could always tell when he was lying. Not that he could lie to save his life, but it was obvious he tried to seem convincing.

-"Listen, Doc, I know you were really banking on your newest plan to work and all, but you always got back on your feet and went off to another failure, so what's the big difference this time?", she interrogated, not buying his statement, and he looked positively lost for a moment before he seemingly caught what she was saying.

-"Wha-_No!_", he denied, not daring to move for dramatic effect with how he was feeling. "I'd never do that, Shego! The world needs me to conquer it, this...this was nothing but a mere setback. A big one, but...but I'll manage...hopefully...", he tried reassuring her, almost debating whether or not he should strike a pose to make her forget about this whole thing and mock him. His aching convinced him otherwise.

-"So what happened this time? Did 'brilliant-invention-that's-too-complicated-to-work' number two-thousand blow up in your face _again_?", he winced at her hostile tone. Couldn't she have possibly been a little kinder to him now that he couldn't even bicker back? Then again, for all he knew, this _could've_ been her way of coping; Shego wasn't the person to display feelings, so perhaps she was simply trying to get things back to normal. "Doc, I can't tell you how you could've easily avoided it if you don't tell me.", she pulled him out of his thoughts, the mocking tone ever so slightly softening. He mentally weighed his options and tried getting his tired brain to calculate the consequences of telling Shego about the whole ordeal he had, and before he knew it, he'd taken a deep breath and his mouth was already running:

-"My escape pod crashed and I fell into Siberia.", he bluntly stated, avoiding all eye contact with his sidekick. A stiff silence fell upon them for a moment, and he was certain Shego was trying to figure out where the punch-line was for the joke. "I also got mauled by a polar bear.", he resumed, finally finding a good resting spot. The silence remained for another minute, and he was half-certain she was contemplating smacking him for lying. Instead, she raised eyebrows for a moment, looked at the ground for a second and threw herself on the bed's side, landing directly on his bad leg.

-"YAAAROUUUGH!", his howl of pain was almost comedic, if it wasn't for the fact that he was actually hurting. Shego immediately got up again, staring at the object under the sheets before slightly lifting them, ignoring a 'Don't-' from her boss. "...I, uh, the bear bit my leg.", he admitted under her perplexed gaze. This was thoroughly uncomfortable, and he wasn't enjoying it a bit. His sidekick nodded and sat on the bed again, avoiding his leg.

-"Alright,", she began, her voice indifferent, "Spill."

_"Huh?"

-"Don't act like a dead fish, Doc, tell me why you look like you just crawled out of the grave.", she demanded, and he couldn't help but notice she was almost...calm. Shego was seldom calm, and it felt...strange. He was used to arguing and yelling with her, but her being this quiet? Not at all.

-"Well, if you insist, it all began when I was preparing to dominate the world with the Electro-Hydro-Heater right after you left...", he began, and it didn't take long for him to start reciting what he could remember happening to him. From the failure at the hands of that cursed Kim Possible, to the crash in Siberia, to the polar bear encounter. It wasn't difficult for Drakken to rant, really, it was like a talent of his, but there some parts where he had to pause for moment before continuing, the near-drowning session was one of them, but he didn't take long to grow prideful over his victory over the polar bear, bragging about how he could survive in Siberia without her. He couldn't remember much of what happened after he sent the signal to his henchmen other than the fact that the stupid pink weasel had forced him into that situation. That, and that he passed out relatively quickly. "...and then I woke up to the henchmen trying to stitch me together because they forgot to apply a sedative.", he finished darkly, glaring at nothing in particular.

-"Ah. So _you_ were that person entering...total body failure?!", she suddenly realized, whatever his name was was lying when he talked about his wife; it was Drakken. "...And what was with that excuse? 'My wife is giving birth?'", she followed up, muffling a chuckle to not ruin her employer's mood.

-"I just didn't think, okay?!", he snapped back, apparently not in the mood for being mocked today. "I was undergoing a total body failure, I'd have liked to see _you_ do better.", he challenged, gesturing with his head towards her.

-"Sheeesh, fine, no need to be such a sourpuss about it.", she threw her hands up defensively, it wasn't going to be fun teasing him if he couldn't reply back. Then it just felt like stealing candy from a baby; evil, yes, and she'd have no problem with it, but it'd provide her with no fun. Then something clicked in her head. "But why didn't you just call me? Did you forget to charge up your phone or something?", she asked, resting a hand on her hip. He looked at her for moment, his shut mouth tightening for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.

-"Didn't want to ruin your vacation, I guess.", he finally blurted out after a minute of silence before he picked the sentence back up, "Also didn't want to pay extra for 'Christmas-saving fees'. I mean, I _am_ a scientific genius, Shego, I can very much survive on my own, I just experienced some unfortunate circumstances.", he gloated, trying smile in his prideful manner despite his injury. He slightly succeeded.

-"...Uh, wow, that's awfully...un-selfish of you.", she mumbled after a moment. "Maybe that fall _did_ affect your head. Not that it made anything worse, really.", she teased, giving him a wide grin as he groaned. Not the smartest choice of action, considering that his throat was now itching. "...but still, I, uh...I guess it's...I appreciate the gesture.", she managed to cough out, her voice so low the blue man beside her almost missed it. Why'd she do that? She wasn't known for being all chummy! Now he was going to think she was soft again! Gah, it was all just so-

-"It's nothing. Maybe. I guess I'd have appreciated not breaking a good chunk of my bones, but I'm certain my new Calcium Growth Enhancer should bring me back to form. Maybe I could even be back on my feet tomorrow or something.", he replied, getting lost in his monologue as Shego rolled her eyes. For goodness' sake, that Calcium whatever was probably going to liquefy him or something, and nobody wanted to deal with _that_. Not again.

-"Yeah...maybe not now; we don't want you to nearly die _again_. I don't have all day to listen to you rant about your injuries.", she put down the idea just as he opened his mouth again, probably to talk about how brilliant it was. He gave her his best evil eye, which had absolutely zero effect on her, and sighed, apparently resigned.

-"Okay, so it may not have been my best idea, and I guess I _reaaally_ don't want to keep paying you when you're doing nothing because my genius cannot be unleashed.", he agreed, a cocky tone creeping onto his voice as he continued, resting his head on the pillow while he looked at his sidekick.

-"_Excuse me?_ Doing nothing?", she yelled back, her left hand erupting into a green plasma flame as she frowned, "Do you have _any_ idea how _boring_ it was to listen to you?", she shot at him, as he yelped at the sight of the flame. "My contract has _nothing_ about having to check on you when you hurt yourself for being stubborn- and don't you _dare_ think about adding a clause like that!", she added as she noticed something stir in his eyes. He shakily nodded, wanting to both not anger Shego or lose the comfort of the position he was stuck in. But contrary to what she thought, that wasn't what was going through the mad doctor's mind right now.

-"Hnnngh...Guess that's right...", he admitted, not really having it in him to argue right now. Maybe later. "Bu-But...uh...I mean...why do you care whether or not I make it?", he asked, trying to sound casual, but there was some timidness in his voice. When she stared at him like he'd just said the sky was green, her frown only deepening, he followed up, "Not that I don't- I mean, the visit is very much appreciated, just...Why? Couldn't you find another employer in case I ever...y'know...", his sentence just dropped there, apparently not wanting to think about it, "I thought you'd have loved me dying, considering I just wrote a will that included _you_ in it."

-"Yeah, well, _duh_, I'm a former super_hero_, not many super_villains_ would like to hire me. Besides, it would just be a pain to re-build my reputation with whoever hires me.", she answered nonchalantly, looking at her glove's nails with disinterest. She didn't notice his disappointed look.

-"But you've been working with me for _years_...I even read some fools in the Villain Digest saying you were the only reason for my success was you. I'm certain you could find a job in no time...Even if your new employer would be disappointed because that notion is entirely _false_.", he countered, earning a curious look from her. Where was he going with this? "And what about the will? Shouldn't that make you want me to die?", he repeated his question, raising himself to be on eye-level with the green villainess. 

-"What, do you _want_ me to kill you right now? Because I'm perfectly capable of doing so this instant.", she snarled, bringing her sharp gloves into view and making him wince back. He was used to these kinds of threats from her, and he often knew when she was being serious and when she was just hoping he'd break down under her pressure. Right now, she was doing the latter. At least, he certainly hoped she was.

-"N-Not particularly, no...I'm just...I'm surprised you don't want me to die.", he managed to say after a moment of mentally-stumbling over his words. He wasn't lying; Shego often mocked him, beat him up, yelled at him, the list went on. She was decent at times, but he actually thought she'd have been happy to be free from his contract. Her eyes softened for a second, just a second, before she turned to face him, crossing her arms.

-"Listen, when you work with someone for as many years as I did, it's pretty difficult to wish for them to die. You're also like the only supervillain who'd allow me to mock them freely, so it's a bonus. It's a difficult fact, and I'm certain even your _genius_ brain can't grasp it.", she tried explaining very slowly, accentuating to mock at the end. In truth, she didn't- no, would _never _admit she didn't want him to die. He was something of a -she nearly gagged at the thought- friend to her. 

Sure, his plans failed a good two thirds of the time solely due to his own incompetence, but his enthusiasm was also infectious at times. She certainly _hated_ him at times, and she'd ditch him whenever she thought he'd went too far, but she wouldn't actually _kill_ him. Even if she occasionally threw plasma balls around. She suddenly noticed that he was currently blinking at her, opening his mouth and shutting it every couple of seconds, like he was afraid to say something. She rolled her eyes; he was probably contemplating whether or not he should tell her to prepare for his next brilliant scheme or whatever.

-"...So does that mean we're friends?", he meekly asked, trying his earnest not to wince from the reaction she displayed. She'd leaned back, stared at him for a moment and looked completely unbelieving to what he just said. So she'd visited him when he was injured- big deal! What was he acting all sentimental about? It wasn't as if she'd ever consider that option...would she?

She thought about it for a minute as Drakken looked at her, eyes fully concentrating on her face, as if it would have the answer to the world's gravest, most important questions. What _was_ Drakken to her? Her boss, duh, but wasn't their relationship too...friendly in that case? What kind of boss would let their employee mock them, only rebutting with some verbal fighting? What kind of boss would actively concern himself with his employee's relationship with her family, intervening when he realizes she's in danger? Most supervillain sidekicks she knew ditched their employers every so often, and while she _did_ do that, she always came back. You could say it's the thrill, but wouldn't it be better with an actually competent villain? Why did she bother saving him each and every time he'd rightfully get caught by the authorities due to his own stupidity? Her overly large paycheck came to her mind, but then again, she _could_ get the same sum from a lot of supervillains. Sure, it would take a lot of painful negotiations, and a lot of the clients in her work field were awfully arrogant and prideful, which would make such amends even more difficult, but they were _possible_.

She thought again about his question. Were they friends? She didn't quite know how to feel about that notion; Shego herself wasn't exactly a sentimental person, so trying to define how she felt was an extremely strange concept to her. How'd she feel if she considered him her friend, really? What would change about their relationship? She knew that for one, Drakken would double down on the shenanigans she was forced into, and he'd probably bring up their 'evil family' far more than she would've tolerated, but other than that, what would change? She already lived at his lairs for most of the week, mocked him ruthlessly, and even occasionally got along with him, wasn't that what friendship -she barely stopped a gag; since when did _she_ use such taboo terms?- was all about? What more was there to it?

But that wasn't what got her so riled up about the idea. It was the fact that she _never_ really had someone to call a friend ever since she became a supervillainess. Not someone she'd see on a daily basis, anyways. Her brothers were...she couldn't betray them and she sent them holiday cards. She didn't hate them per say, but she didn't like staying with them. Her parents were slightly closer, they weren't exactly thrilled with her becoming a villain and ditching her brothers, whom they knew weren't really going to fare well on their own, but she actually saw them once a year on her own accord. There was Junior, but she only saw him every now and again. None of the sidekicks she knew called more than once every two months, and she only physically saw them at Villain-Cons or when she'd occasionally bump into one at a spa or something. So Drakken being someone to call a friend...she didn't know how to deal with it. And what if someone knew? Her entire reputation _depended_ on being ruthless, cold and efficient, if _anyone_ got a hold of her not hating someone, she'd need months (and probably a few injured minors) to get it back.

Then again, there was no harm in letting Dr.D think what he wants, right? They already acted like friends, so as much as it pained her to admit it, why not just tell him they were? Before her mind could object with a thousand answers, she shut it up and looked at her boss. He'd given up on staring intently at her, and was now trying to give himself the correct dose of medicine. He was currently struggling to pour an antibiotic into a stationary spoon with only one hand, trying his earnest not to use his left one. She snickered; she should've known he'd be far too prideful to just ask her for help. It was just so...Drakken. He noticed her snickering and looked at her with an angry glare, failing to look intimidating. She nearly backed out of what she was going to say before she managed to quickly whisper a 'Guess so'.

-"What?", he kept looking at her, his eyes now having very visible confusion. Apparently, he didn't really hear her. She sighed and forced her brain to co-operate.

-"I guess so.", she repeated, keeping a neutral tone in her voice.

-"What? What do you guess?", if you could harvest someone's confusion, Dr.D's could've been sold in _spades_. She glared at him, barely containing her frustrations and repeated:

-"Y'know. Guess we're...friends or like, whatever...", she mumbled hesitantly, trying to decipher the look Drakken was now giving her. He just stared, entirely dumbfounded for a minute, and for a second she thought he was going to freak out. She really wouldn't have blamed him if he did. Then the dopiest, widest grin sprouted on his face, and he would've dropped the antibiotic bottle he was holding in his hand if it wasn't for Shego catching it. "Don't act so giddy or else I'll take it back, Doc.", she warned, but it looked as if Drakken couldn't really care less about her threats.

-"Oh, Shego!", he yelled at her with a mixture of being touched and happiness, "That's...actually comforting to know, that you're not working with me just because of the money...", he continued, his giddiness far too apparent.

-"Yeah, whatever, just don't think about reducing my payment because 'friends don't work together because of money!' or any of that sentimental hogwash.", she reminded, keeping a neutral attitude to all of this; she wasn't really prepared for one of Dr.D's extra-happy moments.

-"Wouldn't dream of it, just...Nghh...could you hand me the notepad over there?", he tried reassuring her, giving a dismissive flick with his injured hand while trying to reach for a small notepad on the table. Shego stared at his struggle for a moment, internally snickering before she finally gave in and handed it to him, leaning beside him to look at it. "...can't a man get some privacy, Shego?", he turned his head to face her. She was currently observing the cover; a crude drawing of Drakken standing over a blue circle which she assumed represented the world. Yep, this was definitely Drakken's, alright.

-"Nah, don't think he can.", she simply answered, provoking a groan from him as he quickly flipped his notepad's pages, barely letting Shego get a glimpse. She had to remember to check out what he had written in there one day. For now, she looked at the page he selected: a mostly empty page that had "FREINDS" written on its top with a dark-green marker. She pondered whether or not she should've notified him of his spelling before she decided to just read the page.

It was disappointingly short. She knew Drakken wasn't much of a social man, but she still thought she could find some dirt on him. Or maybe tease him about _something_. Anything, really, other than the short list. She checked the names in a glance: His mother, someone called 'Cousin Eddie', whom Drakken had never talked about, henchman John, who was probably the one that saved his life and a whole lot of nobody else. 

Alright, so she knew Drakken was as social as a rock, but yet _she_ had at least seven to nine people she interacted with excluding him, so when he only really had two, that...that sort of caught her off-guard. You wouldn't be able to tell from the look on her face, but she didn't knew whether she sympathized with him or felt he was more pathetic than she originally thought. Perhaps a mixture of both. But somehow, she felt he was the one that got impacted the worst by that, judging by how happy he was to have _her_ as a friend.

-"SHEEEEGO!"

-"What?!", only then did she realize she'd drifted away in her thoughts, apparently unable to register he was calling for her. He looked at her like she was a Martian.

-"If you're back from whatever that was, then hand me over the green marker on the table.", it seemed like it was so easy for him to get back into his nature of ordering people around. Unfortunately. She was really enjoying the calmer, more humble Drakken. She grumbled something to herself before throwing the marker in his lap. He, however, remained oblivious to her complaints and started writing 'Shego' with the marker. She didn't know if that was the only marker available or not, but she contemplated berating him for a moment before she noticed he was drawing something next to her name.

It was supposed to resemble her head, she realized after narrowing her eyes for a moment. He had drawings next to every name, actually. They were crude and barely recognizable, but they _were_ drawings alright. His mother's name had her an oval shape with ginger hair, 'Cousin Eddie' had a wheel next to it for whatever reason, John had nothing, which was to be expected, and now her name had what appeared to be her face's outline.

-"...I ought to get myself a black marker so I can get your hair right.", he mumbled, handing her back the marker, apparently getting back to his usual pattern of wanting her to return things back to their place. She stared back at the face he drew; it was mostly triangular, and and the only other thing on it was her lipstick, which looked like a moustache. She didn't actually look like _that_, did she? Or was it a caricature? Taking into consideration his _amazing_ art skills, she was fairly certain this was actually the best thing he could draw. He handed her the notepad with a content smile as he laid back on his mattress. "I appreciate it."

-"What?", she snapped her head back at him, carelessly throwing the notepad on the table and ignoring his scowl; she wasn't his maid. His voice was small, but it was clear enough for her to hear it, she just didn't believe Drakken, self-absorbed and arrogant as he was, decided to _thank her_. It was inconceivable. But he _was_ just getting better after nearly dying in Siberia, so perhaps his brain wasn't perfectly functioning just yet.

-"Y'know, you coming over here and all...it was...nice from your part, yada yada yada, that stuff.", he replied, not daring to look her in the eyes as he tried to look calm. He wasn't succeeding, but she stared at him, and for once, her stare wasn't a mocking or dumbfounded one.

-"Yeah...you owe me, y'know...", she murmured, slowly rubbing her arm as she looked at the ground for a second before getting a hold of herself again. What was she doing? This was Dr.D, for goodness' sake, it's not as if it was the first time he ever thanked her. Sure, the times he did were flukes when he was still recovering from nearly dying in an exploding lair for the fifty-seventh time, but there were other times he did. Not with this much happiness or sincerity, but he had done it before. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

-"...I was hoping that wouldn't be the case...", he sighed, oblivious to the motion she did and not at all disappointed by her claim. She was Shego, what else could he possibly expect? He stared up the ceiling aimlessly for a moment, lost in his thoughts. Shego had seen him in this state several times, mostly when he was thinking about a new plan but couldn't figure out how it would really work. "They really got me this time.", he finally stated, something of a sad tone in his voice.

-"Hm?"

-"Kim Possible and...buffoon sidekick...I guess the mole-rat would count this time too...", he mumbled, his head now laying on the pillow. "I mean, this time I nearly died a couple of time. Don't think I ever felt this...useless before. I barely made it, Shego. And that was only for a few hours! You probably made it for _months_ in Siberia and I didn't know! What good is a supervillain that can't survive without his sidekick for a few hours?!", he ranted, his tone getting angrier by the phrase before deflating like a balloon at the end of some party. He sighed and just kept staring at the ceiling before he took some tissues from under his bed and started blowing. Gross, but not unexpected for someone who took a dip in one of the world's coldest waters not two weeks ago. She could almost swear she heard hurt in his voice. Not that it was anything new for her to notice; Dr.D was a very emotional person for a supposed supervillain, but this time, instead of getting mad at his immaturity, she actually felt for him.

Sure, he should've gotten a bit of grip, but this went further than it should've. Far further than it _ever_ should've. Beating Drakken was one thing, almost killing him? Not while she was around. She knew she went further than she needed to while berating him sometimes, mostly from how _hurt_ he sounded afterwards, but she wouldn't try to _kill_ him. Not in regular circumstances when he's only being the regular amount of annoying, anyways.

-"Listen, Dr.D, I didn't come back from my vacation to listen to you whine about your defeat, so just...", and yet for as much as she knew he had _some_ right to complain about whatever happened to him, she couldn't bring herself to comfort him. She didn't know if she was even _capable_ of such things. She could barely try to comfort her _brothers_, much less an evil mad scientist with a blue colour pallet and what could only be described as an emotional, unstable, insane mind. His gaze shifted to her from his pillow, apparently resigned to not being able to argue back in this fight of theirs and...almost content at the routine they'd gotten back. "Listen, we'll come back. We always do. Stronger, meaner, smarter. Maybe not so much on that last one," she teased as he scowled, "but I can assure you, we've got the first two covered. Kim Possible or not, she'll pay. So just get back up form this bed so we can get on with the newest doo-hickey you've got and get Kimmie the beating she's been asking for for a while now.", but yet somehow, to her own surprise, really, she managed to spew something for him. An encouragement, of sorts. 

It wasn't really the first time she'd ever done it; she had to do something like this whenever Drakken would be feeling _waaaay_ to depressed for his -and frankly, her- personal good. But this time, he hadn't whined and cried became all and emo, he was actually...sad. Just sad. And that had made it a bit worse, honestly. It also made Shego's words a little more meaningful to him, since he wasn't basically begging for her attention this time. Of course, it could pass as a fluke from her, really, but he'd appreciated it. Disregarding her underestimating his pure genius.

-"Yes! Now _that's_ the type of behavior you can try to show during your regular work hours, Shego! Stronger, meaner, smarter, Kim Possible will have no chance against me!", he boasted, trying to test his voice before immediately regretting it as the words scraped against his still-fragile throat. Ah well, he'd have to postpone gloating about the brilliantest idea that came to his mind, The DOOM-V, later.

-"Sure won't, like all those times before.", she sarcastically added, smirking at her boss. He seemed back to normal, if you excluded the various new scars, which she _really_ hoped would fade, the still-apparent bruises, his general weakness, the broken bones, and the fact that his entire room smelled worse than the both of them after their -she shuddered just thinking about it- _cheese dip_. If you excluded all of that (and probably some other things she was fully willing to overlook, frankly speaking), then he was back to the regular Dr.D she knew. A bit gloomier than usual, but that was changing. "Now, when was the last time you took a bath? This room _reeks_, and if you want me to continue working with you, you'll need to smell better than that awful restaurant's smell.", she pointed out, waving her hand to fan her face to accentuate her point. He turned his head towards her with an un-amused expression.

-"For two weeks I've been using this room as a lodging, Shego, and for two weeks I couldn't keep most of the little food I ate down. You're lucky you didn't find a...an unpleasant sight.", he carefully chose his words once he saw his sidekick's expression of total disgust.

-"Okay, that's already too much to know, Doc, I mean, _yuck_ Why'd you even tell me th- No, you know what? Why didn't you tell anyone to clean this room up?", she retorted, immediately remembering the two Henchmen whose most amazing capabilities were the fact that they didn't get a heart-attack from Shego's unexpected visit.

-"Listen, Shego. it's best to only tell them if the situation is _truly_ dire, who knows, maybe they'll complain about their rights or some other rubbish if I consistently order them with such...tasks.", he countered with his typical 'I know something you don't' accent she assumed was supposed to convince her of the brilliance of his methods. It wasn't much of a success, but she assumed that he _did_ have some truth in what he was saying.

-"Fiiine...just...clean this up before we leave; I don't want to come back here from a police chase and find out it smells like rotten cheese.", she ordered in her usual sassy tone, and he only replied in a grumble that she thought was supposed to represent a 'maybe'. A small silence grew between the two of them as they were apparently unable to find anything to speak about. Drakken seemed content enough, since he was only ever silent when he didn't want to complain about something, which was rare. Then suddenly, she remembered one thing she wanted to ask (read: tease) him about: "So what was that about me whipping you again, Doc?", she asked with fake innocence, leaning in for a bit as her employer flinched and backed away.

-"Wha- I-It's nothing! Why, you never even heard it in the first place! Yeah, I must've gotten you sick, maybe you should try an- an orange, we have plenty of those down in the fridge! Yeah, a nice, tasty, healthy orange, how does that sound?", he suggested, his tone of voice becoming less and less convincing by the word. Shego actually had to contain her laughter from his answers. Now she just _had_ to know what on earth he was blabbering about. It was simply mocking gold.

-"Aw, c'mon, Doc, I'm sure it's not _that_ embarrassing. And even if it is, you can bet your bum I'll figure it out sooner than later, so just spill here before I spill in front of the Henchmen, yeah?", she playfully informed him, watching the horror in his eyes as their pupils widened and he held his breath for a second, actually contemplating her offer. She frowned; whatever it was he was yammering about it seemed to be real. Or at least, a very realistic drea- Wait. He didn't... "You didn't use some sort of mind control device on me and then make me forget, _did you?_", she growled, her voice going dangerously low. If he did actually do that, then he must've been really good about denying it; she could always tell from his eyes when he was lying. He wasn't when he was frantically shaking his head, apparently afraid that a second of delay could earn him a plasma shot. He wasn't exactly wrong.

-"Y-You've got the wrong idea! I promised I'd never do that again, remember? This was just...a poor accident!", he defended himself as he backed further than he should've, if the aching he felt in his back was anything to go by.

-"Then what on earth was that about?", she crossed her arms, maintaining her threatening gaze. The mad doctor contemplated every single option he had before gulping, staring at her and trying to lean back into his back-comfort zone.

-"Listen, Shego, _I'm_ supposed to be the boss here and as such...I'll tell you most of the important bits because you are an important and valuable employee.", his arrogant tone quickly dissolved into a quick back-off as he looked at the unimpressed look in her eyes. Or rather, was looked through by it. He took a deep breath before starting, "Shego, do you, by any chance, remember an operation involving Monkey Fist and Duff Killigan?", he interrogated, faintly hoping the answer would be 'no', but his hopes were crushed as she blinked before focusing onto the distance, apparently remembering.

-"...Now that you do mention it, I do remember something with those two dorks...Something about a plane, golf and...your hands are really tiny?", she listen in no particular order, making him sigh. Of all the possible things she could've remembered, it was his abnormally small hands. "Would'ja look at that, they really _are_ tiny little things.", she noted, staring at his damaged hand as he self-consciously closed it. Great, now she was going to tease him about this for as long as she remembered. "...But...I just can't remember anything else...", she noted, turning her eyes to hm as he took a deep breath to explain.

-"So you know how it would seem logical for an evil mastermind like me to try out a time-travel operation, yes?", he asked with his usual haughty and arrogant tone, prompting an eye-roll from his sidekick.

-"The only logical thing about that operation is it failing. Besides, isn't technology like that far too detectable and expensive?", she deadpanned, repeating what he frequently told her multiple times before she started questioning herself. Just why did she even remember that stuff anyways?

-"Well, yes, Shego. I'm not an _idiot_, so I teamed up with Killigan and Monkey Fist to find an ancient artifact that would allow us to destroy Kim Possible's past and-"

-"And finish her once and for all before she becomes the red-headed haughty menace she is today.", she completed for him, and he looked so amazed before she started talking again, "But she somehow started interrupting you and going back to the past to stop you with the help of the people of the future after your conquered them or whatever, right?"

-"H-How did you even _know_?", he started talking, completely dumbfounded by her knowledge. Did she somehow remember?

-"It's the plot of ever time-travel movie, Doc. I'm more surprised you three dorks actually took over the world.", she casually replied, flicking a wrist to accentuate how unsurprising the plan was as she crossed her legs. She raised an eyebrow as he sheepishly scratched his neck.

-"W-Well...here's the deal...we didn't...", he confessed, his voice barely audible. Shego's eyes widened; every competent villain had to succeed at this plan at least once in their lifetime. Was Drakken really so incapable he couldn't even succeed at _that_? "B-But it was out of our control! Kim Possible found us when we were still changing her childhood, so we had a few issues with her...", he tried to justify his and his co-villains' failings, but no such luck, having no impression on Shego's un-amused feeling.

-"Yeah, sure, definitely because you weren't so incompetent you had no effect on her. But where do _I_ come in?", she inquired, tilting her head as she wondered where she fit into all of this.

-"...Yeah, well, you see, halfway through the plan, Killiagn and Monkey Fist decided to have their own plans...which got us arrested...you were staying away because during my proposed scheme a lamp-post fell on you-"

-"Excuse me, a _what_ fell on me because of your schemes?!", she cried out, even though she remembered nothing. She hated it whenever something bad happened to her because of his short-sightedness. It was wholly aggravating to spend an entire week-end at one of his lairs and bear his idiocies the days she was supposed to be relieved of him because she was bruised or something. Drakken, however, continued unfazed.

-"...because Kim Possible intervened. Anyways, their plan failed because Kim Possible teamed up with her younger self and arrested us but you...you didn't save us.", he recounted, closing his eyes as he tried reliving the memories and Shego went silent. Talking about past mistakes was always a touchy part of their relationship, and so him actively talking about it was...uncomfortable. She didn't really know how to comment on that except by making a mental note in her mind to kick the princess' butt harder than usual the next time they met.

-"So what? Did I go back to the past and mock your failures?", the green villainess guessed, resting her hand on the bed as she waited for Drakken to answer.

-"Well...no.", he bluntly stated before taking a deep breath, "You went to the past and broke up Kim Possible and...buffoon, thus rendering them ineffective.", he trailed off, his tone going quiet at the end.

-"What? So I stole your 'glory' and saved you for the zillionth time, nothing new here. Did I laugh at your failures again?", she teased, flashing a cocky grin as she remembered how many times she had to save his hide. She must've broken them apart before that entire plan began.

-"...Not exactly, _you_ decided to take over the world. You succeeded.", he mumbled, his tone still quiet. Shego, on the other hand, lost every bit of energy in her to mock him and just laid there, jaw-dropping. _She_ conquered the world? Of course, the idea floated in her mind every now and again to try something big on her lonesome, but she was always so, frankly, lazy about it. That, and that she couldn't get any ideas to save her life. Drakken was the creative outlet, and while she mocked a good two-thirds of his plans, she had to admit she couldn't actually generate half of his ideas on her own.

-"So what did I do after that?", she asked, not able to hide the curiosity in her voice. She had no real idea on what she'd have done if she ever managed to take over the world. Probably increase taxes to get whatever she wanted, beat anyone who looked at her the wrong way and...explore the world now that it was hers? She didn't exactly know what she could do afterwards; that was Drakken's schtick, always plotting his plans after he gets his hold on the world.

-"You decided that we humiliated you by making you work with us and then decided to enslave us. All of us. And you also turned the world into a dystopia.", he stated, looking into the distance as he recalled the events while Shego remained silent in shock. "We actually thought you were breaking us out at first. You took us to the future you conquered, at which point you tackled us by surprise and put some electric collars on us. I actually thought it was some sort of cruel joke at first. Then you zapped me.", he remembered, shuttering greatly at the end as his sidekick remained impersonating the verbal capabilities of a rock, something she almost _never_ did. 

Sure, she hit Drakken a lot, threw plasma balls at him whenever he was too annoying, but she never thought she'd ever go this far. Why would she? He was never too strict, never really needing her to threaten him if she ever needed something from him, and frankly, it was just...not only mean to treat Drakken (and, to a certain extent, the other two) that way but simply _inhumane_. And trust her, she did a lot of inhumane things in her life, but this was cutting a new low. She stared into his eyes, vainly hoping to find he somehow managed to become really good at lying, with no such luck. When she remained silent, he decided to continue.

-"I'll skip most of what happened afterwards...For the next twenty years...But you should know that Killigan lost his body in an unfortunate rebellion against you so you gave him a robot-body, Monty decided to actually befriend us after you basically forced us to do everything in your lair, and that you tested genetically unstable chemicals on me which made me really, and I mean _super_ buff, but it was also painful and made me take a few painkillers every three hours.", he resumed, shaking his hand or head for emphasis. Shego nodded, trying to take this in. If she was really able to do all of that...Why didn't she do it now? What pushed her to be so violent towards everyone and, of all people, Drakken? Okay, so he didn't really fight with anyone, so she never saw his fighting prowess in action, but she imagined he wasn't much of a fighter. That was _her _role at first before she became his sidekick. But in any case, why'd she do all of that to someone who was basically powerless in comparison to her? It unnecessarily...violent.

Seeing her silence, the mad doctor decided to continue, "I'm not really sure I want..._can_ get into the details right now, but what you should know is that you kept this future intact by contacting your past-self to maintain the cycle by informing you..her...Gah! I don't know!", he struggled to properly describe the situation. Why must time-travel be so confusing!

-"Doc. I got it, just keep going."

-"Oh, yes. Er, where was I?", he snapped back to see her face, which provoked some feeling in him that told him she really wanted to know what happened next. "Oh, yes, so you maintained that future for twenty-something years and called yourself 'The Supreme One' until Kim Possible finally reached you alongside some rebels, and after some fighting, during which I admit I _slightly_ went easy on them,", he admitted, and, much to his surprise, Shego contented with a nod. That was a relief. At least she wasn't warming up to this version of herself, "But in the end I think it was due t entirely ulterior reasons that we lost to them and, as you said, the time-space continuum was restored to its original pace. Thank goodness.", he finished, letting out an exhale as he finally got this over with. He remained silent, leaving Shego to take this in.

So, apparently she had a part of her that wanted to control the world and torture the people she knew throughout her life. Good to know? Honestly, how was she supposed to treat this fact? Was this her all along? She shook the thought off decidedly; if she wasn't thinking like that at the moment, it wasn't her. She considered herself cruel, vicious, mystifying, but not like that. Not in that needlessly cruel way. And for now, that was how it was going to be. She was Shego, now. Not The Supreme One. Whoever that was, she wasn't here now. If all went well, she wouldn't be here at all. Now, there's was just one answer she needed to know...

-"So how did you remember all of this?", she suddenly asked, startling the blue man sitting in front of her. He opened his mouth for an answer, but then closed it again, questioning himself.

-"...I honestly don't know. I think it was because I was the first one to embrace the portal that brought us to the correct time. Maybe? It don't really treat that as a blessing, if that's what you're wondering about, but I kinda feel...special? I mean, nobody else remembers anything, so it's a small privilege for me.", he answered, slightly smiling at the end. His sidekick smirked.

-"Probably the only thing you know someone else doesn't, Doc.", she teased, trying to ease the mood a bit. The last thing she needed was for Drakken's mood to dampen again. It wouldn't have been good for him and, more importantly, her. He mumbled something as a retort, the only thing he could really do in his current situation. "Hey, about whatever happened back then...", she started, and he eyed her curiously. He wasn't expecting her to comment on it while talking with him, "Listen, it's not me. Not right now, anyways. No hard feelings, yeah?", she interrogated, and for once, her tone wasn't hostile when questioning him. It actually took him a moment to reply from the shock.

-"Wh-What? Of course not, Shego, that wasn't you- I mean, now-you- I mean...Current you. If I held a grudge, you'd have been fired the moment we returned. It was just a bit of a...painful experience, I suppose.", he confessed before reassessing his current physical situation. "I mean...the physical damage wasn't as bad as this little misadventure, but I guess...I guess I didn't expect betrayal to come out of you, of all people. At least, not with that much seething hatred.", he explained, trying to put things into unoffensive terms since, all things considered, he was _technically_ talking about Shego. He couldn't believe his eyes when her expression didn't change and looked...displeased. He didn't think this would matter to her too much.

-"...If it's any condolence to you, I have absolutely no idea where that came from. I don't really hate you guys to the point where I'd attach electric collars to you and torture you for a couple of decades.", she said, trying to keep her voice neutral. The last thing she needed was for Drakken to think she was getting emotional. So not. Still, she almost gave him an odd look when he talked about him not expecting the betrayal from her; he was a mad scientist in an evil lab. According the laws of every conceivable Villain Rule-Book, betrayal could've come from anyone. Including her. Then again, Drakken _was_ too emotional for his on good...Even if she, against everything she thought she might be thinking, didn't find it in her to betray him that way. Leave him, sure, beat him, double sure, but to inflict that much pain on him still felt as if it crossed something far graver than a line. Oh, dear goodness, _no_. She might've actually started treating him like a friend.

-"It's...It's a nice gesture on you part. Thanks.", he finally managed to blurt out, still trying to assess this change of heart from his sidekick.

-"Yeah, don't get used to it, Doc. I'm just saying what needs to be said. I'm not arrogant enough to deny anything I may have some responsibility in, unlike _some_ people I know.", she stated, eyeing her boss as he scoffed with dignity. "But how about we forget about this right now? I mean...the details, I could want them later, but...right now, let's just focus on whatever you got in your mind, Dr.D. I'm not really up for discussing my moral strategies when I had absolute power.", she stated, and he hastily nodded in agreement; it appeared as if he, too, didn't quite like talking about this.

-"Gladly. Now, we can talk about the DOOM-V!", he proudly boasted, his eyes glimmering the way they always did whenever he talked about something evil. It didn't last for long, though, "...riiight after I take this little medicine right here...My throat's not used to speaking yet...", he added, moving his good hand towards another bottle of medicine and trying his best to pour it into a spoon with one hand.

-"Can't wait to see how that goes wrong, Doc.", his sidekick stated with fake enthusiasm as he groaned before swallowing his medicine. Whether that groan was directed at her or at the pink-coloured medicament was anyone's guess.

-"It's good to see you're back to you usual cheery self, Shego.", he shook his head before a comfortable silence fell. One that didn't last all that long, "Sooo...I'm guessing you're staying here until I can get back on my feet again to build the DOOM-V, huh?"

-"Yep. Unfortunately. This place ain't all that fun, but I'll survive.", she rolled her eyes as she thought about the next few days she was going to spend with nothing but a below-average Internet connection. It wasn't a fun thought.

-"I mean, I survived a day in Siberia-", he started before she intervened.

-"Obtaining in the process many wounds, injuries, broken bones and broken spirits..."

"...I'm certain you could push yourself to do fine.", he continued, trying his darn earnest to ignore her snarky-ness. There she was. The Shego he knew. "I mean, if you really get bored, I'd appreciate having someone to talk to other than the henchmen because...well, you know how they are.", he added under his breath, but in a room as quiet as the one they were in, it was easy to pick it up.

-"Y'know...that doesn't seem like a bad idea. Talking with someone else makes me realize how smart I am.", she joked after a brief pause, much to the dismay of her boss. She didn't know if he caught on, but she was only half-joking; the henchmen, while not bad for...well...henchmen, just weren't all..._there_, if that was the term. They did their job efficiently enough, went through boring papers and such, but when came to chit-chat they mainly stuck to themselves, which made conversing with them all the harder for Shego. That, and that she didn't really care for them much in the first place. Drakken's whole 'friends' thing wasn't getting to her quite yet, but even _she_ needed to talk with someone once every few hours if they were available. She could withstand solitude, sure, but if there was some other way around it, she'd take in a heartbeat. She just didn't have to let the blue man know.

-"Yeah, yeah, you won't be talking much when the DOOM-V is finally built...", he mumbled as his eyes tightened. Sure, he was happy old Shego was back, but he also preferred some aspects in calm-Shego. Less mocking was one of them. He turned his gaze to her again as she got off the bed. "You're leaving?"

-"Yeah. Don't really see any reason for me to stay and watch you throw up that medicine you just swallowed.", she answered nonchalantly, gesturing to a small, closed box she noticed was next to his bed. Gross. "If you ever need anything, the henchmen are available.", she called back, flashing a smirk as he rolled his eyes.

-"I know that, Shego. Your generosity is simply _amazing_.", he grumbled, trying to get the other medicines. She probably could've helped him with that. Maybe if he seems to be suffering too much with the spoons and was too prideful the call the henchmen. He paused for a brief second, "Uh...Thanks again for the visit...it was-"

-"Yeah, I got it, Doc. Don't overuse the word 'Thanks', you might forget how to spell when I do something _actually_ important.", she waved a hand, seemingly unfazed, but she was secretly surprised he could, surprisingly, display gratitude. Turns out his ego wasn't as over-inflated as she thought. Only half-overly-inlfated.

He remained silent and she exited the room. Thinking about the encounter she just had with the madman. Her boss. Her..."friend"...perhaps. He was still the blue geek she knew and yelled at, but she never really got around to talk with him like this before. She usually left at night. The rare moments she did stay overtime, however, he'd usually have some small-talk or something with her, she recalled as she got back the hovercar and got her luggage out. Maybe the loon did, afterall, have more depth than a piece of paper. Not that she'd explore it.

Still, it was nice to know he wasn't dead. She didn't know what she'd have done if he did and...frankly, she didn't want to think about it. She wasn't emotional, but she had _something_ resembling a heart down there, and she didn't want any circumstance to awaken it.

For now, she thought as she heard him yell a (probably obscene in his eyes) "DOODLES!" from the inside of his room as he viciously rang a bell to call the henchmen who jogged to his door, she was glad the status quo was restored. She didn't appreciate that she now knew that she whipped Drakken nearly as much, though. That was something she could've lived without knowing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betcha' you didn't think I'd update this after such a along time. Or take such a long time updating it...Honestly, I really, really don't know why this took such a long amount of time...it's not even that complex of a chapter...it IS quite long, though...
> 
> Well, I suppose I owe everyone here an apology. I didn't mean for this to be so long nor for it to take such a long time to be written, but what can I say? I guess it just spiraled out of control and transformed itself into what it is now.
> 
> I had quite a bit of fun with this one. Trying to discover Drakken and Shego's characters and trying to imagine how they'd react to a regular 'sickfic', as these are called, scenario was a bit difficult, and I found myself trying to maintain a careful balance between having Shego display emotions and not being too emotional for...well, Shego, and while also not making her be entirely heartless. I also honestly think that the transitions in this Chapter were some of my best transitions to date, so hooray for improvement! I enjoyed several other aspects, but these were the main ones.
> 
> I always played with the idea of someone from the Kim Possible cast remember a Stitch in Time's events, and I always thought that someone unlikely should/would remember them for emotional/logical reasons. Since Ron didn't, then I headed to my favorite unlikely candidate: Drakken. I honestly think that him talking to Shego about the events could warrant a Fan Fiction of its own, but I only lightly touched on it for dramatic effect and a small conflict in this 'Fic. I hope it doesn't seem rushed.
> 
> Other than that, your thought are greatly appreciated! I spent quite a bit of time with this little Fan-Fic of mine, and in the end I'm quite happy with it, so share any critiques, advice, and thoughts you may have, I honestly appreciate every little thing. Thank you for reading.
> 
> So until next time, stay spankin'!


End file.
